Destination Sochi: End of the Line

With the powers that be in the NHL, NHLPA, IOC, and IIHF meeting when it comes to the NHL's partcipation in the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia meeting, the question turns to what's going to happen next for the NHL in the Olympics.

Since the 1998 Games, when the NHL first started in the Olympics-- the NHL has lucked out with the Games being in locations where hockey is a followed sport or is close to locations where hockey is a popular sport, sans Nagano. The good part of Nagano is that the NHL was starting to get into Asian markets, even opening up the 1998-99 season in Japan.

Yet, with all of this, the Sochi Games could be the end of the line for the NHL's involvement. One of the reasons is that the Russians would want to represent their country at home. Of course, we all remember how many Russians said they would play regardless of the NHL's participation; so to include the NHLers would be the best bet for the NHL rather than losing the fire-power of Evgeni Malkin, Ilya Kovalchuk, and Alex Ovechkin, as well as Anze Kopitar-- who would want to help represent his native Slovenia in their Olympic journey. But after this-- it could be an indefinite hiatus for the NHL when it comes to the Olympics.

Past Sochi, there's South Korea in 2018 and 2022 is yet to be decided, but here are some potential bid cities. While the NHL would want to diversify their game, they don't seem to have the bump in Asia that they once had, so suspending the participation would probably happen, despite the IIHF and IOC actually wanting to have those high-profile names in one of the pinnacle events.

There's plenty of discussion about whether or not the NHL should be involved at all when it comes to the Olympics, as the whole "amateur" idea of the Games being put into check because of it, even with the exposure it gives to those involved. There's probably also a worry about the time that the NHL will have to take off because of it, the practice after the NHL is back in business, and the worry for some teams down the stretch when it comes to wear-and-tear of their players.

In the end, the NHL will go to Sochi and it probably won't take long to hash all of that out. The bigger concern is the involvement past this Olympics, which I'm sure the IOC would be pushing hard for a commitment, especially for a lesser revered venue and trying to get all the star power they could muster.

On the Topic Of....The World Hockey Championships

While the Stanley Cup playoffs are on-going, another big tournament is happening. While it's not the "Holy Grail" of hockey, the World Championships is something that is often overlooked because it doesn't get too much publicity in the North American side of the globe, but this year's tourney holds a lot of weight to it.

Outside of the fact that there will be some bigger name NHLers there than usual, this tournament is the one that will determine which teams will make it into the Olympics and where they will be seeded in Sochi in 2014. Considering that only the top NINE teams will automatically make it into the Olympics out of the 12 nations playing, that'll leave three teams to battle with other 20 that have declared in order to see if they'll get into the Olympic games.

Of course, the fact that this really the professional equivalent of the the NIT tournament that college basketball has really makes this tournament a little dull for some people. Yet, that's only in North America.

The European fans are really nationalistic when it comes to this tournament. It's a big deal for them and they will come out in droves to support their home nations. A lot of European NHLers see the World Championship right up there with the Stanley Cup because they grew up thinking it was the biggest deal out there. That's why a lot of them really want to play in the Olympics, especially the Russians, because it's a big honor to play for the country, more than what the North Americans see it as.

Even so, it should be an interesting World Championship, even while the old guard of the NHLers-- Teemu Selanne, (maybe) Daniel Alfredsson [scratch that], and (maybe) Nicklas Lidstrom-- what it lacks in memorable names will leave the door open for younger players to get noticed and for some of the more underdog nations (like Slovakia) to jump up and surprise some people with their performance. You'll see a lot of teams with young talent, Canada really leading the way with draft-eligible Ryan Murray invited to camp and John Tavares, PK Subban, and others being on the roster already.

Yet, the question remains on whether the players make the tournament good or the tournament makes the players good. The Olympics busted out the likes of Tore Vikingstad and Mats Zuccarello-Aasan come alive from Norway to not only put their names out there-- but the country of Norway on the map for an emerging hockey nation. This is another place for players to really break out against top-level talent and it could make their stock go up and have them get NHL contracts as a result. That's a selling point to watch right there.

Of course, most people won't be able to watch the action from Finland and Sweden with the games being early in the morning and people working or sleeping will make them miss it, but it's always nice to have if you need some break from your work life and won't get caught if you find a feed of the game somewhere.

It may not be the Stanley Cup and it may remember a Mario Kart trophy, but in the end-- it is a meaningful achievement for some players, especially when it comes to actually representing your country.

Friday Five: Trade Bait and Release

After another crazed week that was in hockey-- we move forward with another edition of the F5 and try to wonder about what you're secretly thinking.....or not thinking and will be thinking because it was brought up here.....or not at all.

1. With all the trades that are going down now-- what's going to be left for the Deadline??

It'll be slim and none. Yet, I can understand people freaking out by the domino effect. You never want a team to get the jump on you because they will leave you in the dust. Granted, the fact is that some teams are really getting the better of some deals-- but that's the nature of the business and you may have to give up way to much to ship off something you don't want anymore. People will get hosed and people will get deals-- though if most of them are UFAs at the end of it and don't resign with the team they're traded to-- no harm, no foul.

2. If you're a fledgling team and have a no-trade or no-movement clause-- would you waive it to go somewhere that you have a chance or do you stick around and hope for the best??

You have to wonder the situation the player is in. If they are older, odds are they would move it to trying and get that last grasp at the Cup ring; but if they're a younger guy or in their "prime" as a player-- they'll probably be more hard-pressed to move it because of the fact they do want to win the Cup, but they don't want to move from this place they're establishing themselves and are comfortable in. I guess it's depended upon the pressure the management puts on the player and tries to convince that they'd be welcome back in the off-season or something. It's a hard-sell and usually creates rift between fans and the player because of it.

3. Is there a chance of any shockers happening this coming Monday, or will it just be the role guys like has been discussed in the past??

There could be something like a Bryan McCabe or Michael Ryder to get dealt-- but at the same time, I don't think the big money names like Brad Richards or J-S Giguere traded. There's going to be the role players that'll be moved, but we won't have much (if any) blockbusters for the Monday and if it happens early enough in the day-- you could see a ripple effect, but it's highly doubtful. There's a lot of close races in each conference, so I don't think many teams will want to give up their role guys for a marquee name just to match another team-- because it'll ruin chemistry.

4. The Devils and Maple Leafs are streaking and streaking hard. In the end-- will they have a shot??

I think the Devils have a shot, but I don't know how much longer it'll be able to last. As much as they are on this massive high-- there has to be a down-turn, as even the most hardened of Devils' fan will be one to reel people back into the myth of going from laughingstock to dark horse contender. The Leafs are the same way-- however, there's been many years that the Leafs have given hope late in the season just to have it dashed. James Reimer is going through the "Unknown Goalie Syndrome" where players don't know how to beat him-- which gives the team and fans a false sense of greatness. It could keep going, but I don't think I would put money down on it.

5. The IIHF have shelved the idea of relaunching their Champions League. How good of an idea is this to begin with??

I love the idea of a Champions' League in hockey or some kind of super league. It's also something that could be used to take on one of the NHL teams that come over to play for their first two games and compete for the Victoria Cup. At the same time, I can understand why they wouldn't be able to agree to some kind of an agreement, as it's hard to deal with a championship race in one league and have to play in another league and risk potential injury and ruin a run in the league that's most important. It's a great idea in theory.....but we all know-- in theory; Communism works.

---------

That's the week-- you want something for me to talk about-- Scotty.Wazz@Gmail.com is the place to be, folks. Tell me of a topic you want to be covered or whatever and I'll do what I can to be as wrong as possible.

On the Topic of the Spengler Cup

Lost in all the holiday hockey tournaments and return of the NHL into the holiday season is the Spengler Cup. The Spengler Cup has been held since 1923 in Davos, Switzerland (though not held a couple times due to WWII) and is one of the bigger stand-alone tournaments amongst European club teams. This year, the club teams are the host HC Davos and fellow Swiss team Genève-Servette, KHL teams SKA St. Petersburg and Spartak Moscow; Czech team HC Sparta Praha, and an entry from Hockey Canada.

While the others are club teams, the Hockey Canada contingent is a conglomerated team from players who are mostly based out of the Swiss Elite League, with the exception this year of Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers, who is playing in the AHL. While you have some teammates, the fact that this team didn't have much practice and still steamrolled a team like Spartak Moscow 6-1 in their first game shows how good the coaching staff of Mark Messier and Doug Shedden has adjusted these players to playing under one system. Granted, Spartak played their third game in five days and on the tail-end of the back-to-back games in their loss; but still.

The contingent of these players, like I said, are from the Swiss league, but there's plenty of former NHL and AHL talent on that team. Names you thought were long forgotten like Glen Metropolit, Mark Bell, Duvie Westcott, Brett McLean, Serge Aubin, Brenden Bell, Martin Kariya, Curtis Brown, and Tyler Moss-- all rostered on this team. Like I said, Deslauriers is the starter on this team and has played on the Oklahoma City Oil Barons most of the season. And while these guys won't be the most revered when it comes to being part of a Team Canada; it seems the coaching staff has done a great job to get the best Canadians on a roster to play in this game and while they probably could have asked for the release of some other minor league players-- the genius of getting guys from the Swiss league is fantastic. They didn't have to get guys adjusted to the ice size, didn't have to get them adjusted to the elevation (5,118 ft. above sea level; highest city in Europe), and won't have to get them adjusted to the ruckus crowd for when they take on the home squad and other local teams.

The tournament is something that does get lost in the crowd for most hockey fans, especially since there's not many mainstream teams and no US teams there. There's some Canadian fans who care about this tournament because there's a Canadian team there-- but it gets lost in the hype of the World Juniors and the holiday breaks that happen. When the Canadian team wins, they get some accolades, but it's not big-- even though it's the oldest invitational tournament there is in the land. Yet, does it have to be a big deal overseas so long as the players know what they did and what they've achieved?? Probably not, but it'd be nice to see these guys getting some recognition on a bigger scale than a small 30-second highlight pack of the final game. Luckily, TSN was able to pick up the tournament and will hype it-- even if it's relegated to TSN2 for some games in lieu of World Junior games.

This kind of tournament makes me wonder if there could or should be a Canadian National Touring team like they had when the Olympics were amateur competition, since players could play in any pro league to keep their amateur status and be able to play in the Olympics. While that idea probably wouldn't happen-- it could be interesting to see a team made up of Canadians just touring the globe to play random exhibitions against club teams and then going into tournaments like the Spengler Cup and show off their talents. Not likely to happen in this day-in-age, but still an interesting option for guys who may not be as psyched to go play overseas if they can't find anything in North America.

The Spengler Cup is something that should get more coverage, but it won't in the US because of a lack of invited team and it'll get dulled in Canada because of the World Juniors. It doesn't make it any less of the feat to win it, but there should be a little more attention given to it because it is a great event that's played in an amazing looking arena, to boot. Best of luck to those playing in it because it is exciting hockey to watch.

Friday Five: Capital Worries

It's another end of the week, which brings about the Friday Five-- where I just look at some storylines and comment on it. It's simple, that much I know.

1. The Caps have dropped four in a row, when does the panic set in??

You can almost see that the wheels on the bandwagon are getting loose-- but if it hasn't set in yet for the team, it should soon. You almost have to think they've bought into their own hype from last year and the pre-season predictions. That said, it's not the Caps are playing horrific, but it seems when they do slide, it gets magnified more than some other teams out there. I think it's more alarming that Alex Ovechkin isn't shooting enough (for his standards), even though he's on pace for a record number of points.

2. What, if anything, can stop the slide and actually get them to the dominant team everyone thought they'd be??

I still say that the platoon goaltending isn't going to last through the entire year and I think that the inexperience of both Semyon Varlamov and Michal Neuvirth at the NHL level will be the end of them. That's an opinion that's not popular amongst Caps fans, but it's something that seems to plague the Caps fateful. They like their home-grown talent and their folk-hero players-- but sadly, that will most likely lead to disappointment when it matters most. So, my guess is an experienced goalie will help by the deadline-- but it could happen sooner if the struggles continue.

3. IIHF is re-starting the Champions' League for the 2011-12 season. Is it really a Champions' League if there's no Stanley Cup or even Calder Cup representative??

It's a bit of a misnomer to promote a Champions' League and not have a Stanley Cup winner there, but it's something where the MLS isn't there for the European Soccer Champions' League. This is something that should only be European only because their schedules are more lenient and allows them to schedule other games outside of their league games. It'd be nice for there to be a North America representation, but it's definitely less than necessary to have them there. Let the Cup champs and Champions' League winner face-off in the Victoria Cup in September to really show themselves off.

4. Hate to make it Caps-sentric, but what can we expect out of both teams for the Winter Classic alumni game??

For the Caps, we already know that Peter Bondra will be playing, but no one else. I'd love to see Scott Stevens, Rod Langway, Sylvain Cote, Al Iafrate, and Calle Johansson on the blue line. Michal Pivonka, Mike Gartner, Bengt Gustafsson, Dale Hunter, and (sadly) Craig Laughlin up front. If they can get Don Beaupre and/or Jim Carey in net (though Olie Kolzig will make the trip over if need be), that'd be amazing.

The Penguins already announced that Mario Lemieux, Ron Francis, Paul Coffey, and newly retired Bill Guerin will be on the roster. You can bet that Ulf Samuelsson will probably make the trip over and you can bet Bryan Trottier and maybe even Kevin Stevens will be on the list. Tom Barrasso will probably be in net, since I can't think of anyone outside of Ken Wregget would be worthy enough.

The game will have the Caps alumni go up quick then lose late-- as is the story for every Caps/Pens series. As a long suffering Caps fan, I know how this story goes.


5. With waffles being thrown in Toronto, what else could we seen thrown in the future at other venue??

We've seen waffles, snakes, hard-helmets, and even sextoys-- but I don't know what else that could be thrown that could cause a ruckus. You could see a lot of recycled things being thrown out during Calgary Flames games, while I definitely await the Yarmulke trick happening in Miami-- even though Hanukkahs is over. With Operation Curly Fries, Red Wings fans could throw fries-- but they already have the octopus, so I don't think you could do both....unless it's octopus filled with curly fries; which would be amazing. Maybe fried calamari for the combination.

---------

You guys can get on this, too-- if you don't like what I've got, suggest your own. Email me Scotty.Wazz@Gmail.com and submit something you'd like me to talk about and get an opinion. If not, well-- you enjoy these ramblings of not your own.

Revisiting the Ghost of Roller Hockey Leagues Past

Wrapped up in the excitement of the Draft, pre-free agency trades, and then the Free Agent Frenzy; the IIHF is pimping the hell out of the InLine Hockey World Championship in Sweden with the top eight teams in the Top Division and the other eight in the Division I part of the things. It seems like quite the ordeal for those who are hockey deprived. The interesting thing is that no one knew about this, including some that were unaware of USA Hockey even having an Inline National Team. I know my old home rink back in Maryland-- the Gardens-- has a league in many divisions, as they shutdown their main rink (for all intensive purposes) for the Inline league.

But it's easy to miss the allure of the inline hockey landscape. The fact that there lacks a bigger-than-house league for the inline hockey and little exposure for the sport. It did seem the hot topic for the early-to-mid 90s, because of the migration of hockey (and Wayne Gretzky, let's be honest) to the "Sunbelt" and the lack of ice that is there. Sure, people had street hockey by playing on feet, but never did you have the inline attachment to it all. Once it started to catch on at the grassroots level, then the bigger scale seemed to take note and it started to be seen to the masses.

It all started with former Stanley Cup winner Ralph Backstrom, WHA co-founder Dennis Murphy, and famous name having Larry King (not that one) forming Roller Hockey International in 1993. They were able to score a TV deal with ESPN2; which-- at the time-- was on the angle of "out there" sports and unconventional events; it displayed the league very well. The league started with 12 teams spanning from Anaheim to Toronto with stops in places like Calgary, Salt Lake City, and New Haven, Connecticut. It seemed like a decent success, with the 1994 season having double the amount of teams they did in 1993; moving into Atlanta, Montreal, Sacramento, and Las Vegas. However, the league blew it's load way too quick, going from 24 to 19 in 1995; then 18 in 1996. The big hit was taken when the league had 10 teams in 1997 spread all over North America, which definitely made the teams struggle financially-- so much so that the league took a year off in 1998, only to be recreated in 1999 with eight teams before the league finally ceased to be after it officially went under in 2001.

The RHI did have a number of former NHLers join the ranks of the inline league; which included former AGMs Petr Skudra and Daniel Berthiaume, as well as current NHLers Manny Legace and Glen Metropolit and legends Tiger Williams and Bryan Trottier. If nothing else, it gave an outlet to those fringe players, and many goalies, the change to play all year-round. The Anaheim Bullfrogs won two championships in the RHI and made it to four finals. It left use with great names as the New Jersey Rockin' Rollers, Calgary Rad'z, Vancouver Voodoo, and Edmonton Sled Dogs.

After the RHI falter, ESPN2 had another brain child to not only take the roller hockey idea, but add an even more extreme aspect to it and adding the beach, as well. That's how we got Pro Beach Hockey, which started in 1998. The concept was simple: six teams playing each other in a single rink in Hunington Beach, California. The extreme aspect was that behind the nets, there were these quarter-pipe-esque ramp, creating more speed for the players around it, more mayhem because of it, angled glass behind the net to maybe some set plays to ring it up and around the goal to the player in front of the net; and the kicker-- the 2-point line. What could go wrong??

Well, the fact there were only six teams was a start, but it did make it easy enough to follow. More fancy team names-- like the Dawg Pac, Web Warriors, and Salsa. They had motivating factors, like teams getting paid based on standings and the pretty girls on the beach in the outside atmosphere. While they had a lot of RHI players coming over, a sponsorship deal with Franklin Hockey, and a TV gig; PBH only lasted three seasons before ESPN cut off their sponsorship of the league, thus making it fade into the background, leaving us wanting more ramps.

Nowadays, the way to get the fix is Major League Roller Hockey, which was the real resurrection of RHI. The MLRH started in the 1998 season and has continued on, with only two stoppages in 1999 and 2008 due to some conflicts of teams. The league even went to a Super League with the North America teams, as well as teams in the United Kingdom and Czech Republic. It also has branched out to MLRH2 and MLRH AAA and AA, as well. Though it's located mainly on the Eastern seaboard, the appeal is there for players who want to get into another level with the game. Even better team names with this one: Tampa Bay Rollin' Thunder, Chicago RollerSnakes, DC Mad Dawgs, Ohio Wheelz, and Charlotte Outlawz.

Alongside MLRH, the largest inline tournament in the world, NARCh (North American Roller Hockey Championship), which started for amateur teams in 1994 and continues to this day; the most teams being in 2008 with 435 teams in North America. Another big tournament, which a little more pride to it is State Wars, which takes players from each state and they play to see who's the best of the 50 states from around the US. There are different age levels and a provides another side motivator in the competition.

While it may not be a big deal anymore, there was a time where inline hockey shined. Thanks to the West Coast and "Sunbelt" swing of the NHL teams, including the NHL sponsored NHL Street, and the Mighty Ducks skating through random malls and vacated basketball courts; roller hockey was just getting started before it all came crashing down. With Sweden winning the last three IIHF Inline titles, you can tell who is taking note of the possible next uprising of roller hockey. Here's hoping the US or Canada (who took a decade hiatus from the IIHF tourney) will find a new crop of inline players to get North America back to competitiveness.