RIP Maddie
In a previous post (well I thought I had mentioned it, but can’t seem to find the exact post), I talked about the wonderful gesture Kris Draper made to a little girl, Maddie, dying from bone cancer and her single father, Paul. Draper had invited them to a Red Wings game and let them come downstairs to the locker room (where the media was not allowed) and then would call to check up on her.
He gave her a signed game used stick, a jersey with her name on the back signed by Robert Lang, Chris Osgood, Niklas Kronwall, Tomas Holmstrom, Nicklas Lidstrom, Brett Lebda and head coach Mike Babcock. Draper even asked for her autograph and put her photo up in his locker stall next to his kids’ photos.
This kind of meeting with the Red Wings happens all the time. Babcock invites a sick child to every home game. Ten to 15 times a season, the Wings host a child through the Make-A-Wish program.
But this was different.
The Red Wings rolled out the red carpet for Maddie, at Draper’s request.
“We have a lot of kids who come to practices and say hi to the guys at practice,” said Anne Marie Krappmann, the Red Wings community relations manager. “Something like this is very special because Kris did this on his own. This is a result of his heart. Kris has a daughter who is a year younger than Maddie. It touched him not only as a person, but as a father.”
Sadly, Maddie passed away on Sunday and a funeral was held yesterday. The Detroit Free Press had been detailing her journey since the summer and had this little bit about what Draper did once she passed away.
A Red Wings jersey, given to her by Kris Draper, was framed and displayed about 20 feet from her casket. Draper attended a private visitation Tuesday afternoon and met with several family members. He hugged Trudel and gave him the puck from the goal he scored Monday night.
Draper may not be our best player and some of you don’t want him on the team anymore, but it seems to me that his charity contributions to this community is top notch. He goes above and beyond his “duties to the community” and really made a difference in Paul and Maddie’s lives.
RIP Maddie.
Wings visit Children’s Hospital
Is anyone else disappointed with the lack of coverage the local Detroit papers provided on yesterday’s visit to the Detroit Children’s Hospital? Last year, I made a post on the event with plenty of quotes, photos, and sources to refer to.
This year, both the Detroit News and Detroit Free Press mentioned the visit but it was within another article.
The Free Press said this about the event:
The team made its annual holiday trip to Children’s Hospital of Michigan on Wednesday afternoon. The team helped unveil a new area of the main lobby, called the Red Wings Play Zone, and visited with patients and their families.
Wow. I learned soo much about this trip. (note the sarcasm) Last year, they had quotes from some of the kids and reactions from the players. I’m a sucker for these types of feature articles and we got nothing.
The Detroit News had a little more to say, but not much:
The Wings made their annual visit to Children’s Hospital of Michigan.
Before visiting with patients, the Wings joined hospital representatives in the unveiling of the newly designed Red Wings Play Zone, a hockey rink-themed play area in the main lobby.
“Just to see the faces of these kids when they see the players, how happy they are, it’s really something,” Lidstrom said.
At least the Detroit News had a quote from a player about the event and a gallery of photos. But how hard would it be to write a little more in depth coverage about this great trip the players do every year? Or that Jiri Fischer was there (which you wouldn’t have known unless you looked at the gallery photos)? Or that Yzerman came along as well?
Photo courtesy of the Detroit Free Press
Belated Thanksgiving recipes
I was reading through the most recent Sports Illustrated issue and came across two pages of Thanksgiving recipes courtesy of two hockey players and one football player. Kris Draper shared the secret to his yummy mashed potatoes:
“I’m an aggressive masher,” he says. “I can’t have lumps, so I have two mashers on hand. I tend to bend one in the process.” Draper, his wife, Julie, and children, Kennedi, 6, and Kienan, 4, will host family and friends, and he’ll mash a potato-and-a-half per guest. “You don’t want to run out,” says Draper, who adds that after his spud-smashing he slips away to watch football. “With my wife and mother-in-law in there, you can only have so many cooks in the kitchen.”
Ingredients: Ten russet potatoes; 1/2 cup skim milk; 1/4 cup organic sour cream; one tablespoon salted butter; salt; pepper; parsley.
How to make it: Peel and quarter potatoes and place in large pot. Cover potatoes with cool water, add salt and boil. Drain potatoes when tender. Heat milk in saucepan but don’t boil. Mix warm milk and butter into potatoes until creamy. Stir in sour cream. Smash potatoes with masher until smooth. Add salt and pepper. Sprinkle on parsley. Serves: 6-8
Fighting in the NHL
I am currently doing some research for my third and final English paper, which will be in regards to fighting in the NHL. My second paper about the NHL schedule will be posted on Kukla’s Korner either Tuesday or Wednesday.
Anyways, I came across this quote from a column dating back to March 2004 so right before the lockout. Shelly Anderson wrote:
Any hockey purist wants a game without fighting, or at least respects the game enough to live without the fisticuffs.
If you can’t appreciate the skating, stickhandling, passing, checking and goaltending, please take your bloodthirst and beer and retire to the alley. It’s not as if there are enough of you self-proclaimed diehards who crave fighting to keep the sport thriving.
Supporting violence in hockey is like saying you’re an auto racing fan when you only watch in hopes of seeing a fiery crash.
Is it just me or does anyone else disagree with those comments? I love the sport of hockey and I certainly appreciate the skills and physical play it requires. But I also love the fights. Is there anything else that gets the entire crowd to their feet any quicker? At least in the Joe, which might not be saying much, everyone doesn’t even stand after a goal is scored, but if a fight goes down, the entire crowd is up. I don’t need a fight every game or every two games to make me happy, but it’s been a critical part to the history of the game and I think it should stay.
What are your guys’ thoughts? Whatever you believe, your opinions can help me with my paper to make sure I address all “benefits” of fighting or the opposing views. Thanks!
Interview with Helene Elliot
Sports Media Guide conducted an interview with LA Times reporter Helene Elliot back in September. It’s an interesting read and I found one of her answers to be very true about the hockey coverage here in Detroit:
Q. What was the reaction by the NHL [to the LA Times not covering Anaheim Ducks or LA Kings on the road]?
A. I’m told it was a topic at the recent p.r. meetings for the entire weekend. I covered the Stanley Cup finals this year. Of the 30 teams in the league more than half were not represented by reporters at the finals. Anaheim had nobody. Atlanta, Buffalo – nobody. Boston – only the Globe was there. Columbus wasn’t. Chicago and Colorado – only some of the games. Neither Detroit paper sent a reporter to the finals. Nobody from Newsday, nobody from the New York Post. Nobody from Pittsburgh, St. Louis, San Jose, or Washington. Nobody from Tampa Bay – the defending Cup champions.
Fan girl vs. Puckbunny
Hockeygirl @ Double Dion has a post which shows the differences between fan girls and puckbunnies. I contributed along with the other female bloggers at HLOG so hopefully that helps clarify the differences between the two groups to some previously confused readers of female hockey bloggers’ websites.
Wings to make Howe statue
Apparently, the Detroit Red Wings are going to have a statue made in honor of Gordie Howe that will be placed outside Joe Louis Arena. I’m a little surprised that they would do this when they aren’t sure if they will be making a new arena or not, but congrats to Mr. Hockey.
The Wings are honoring Gordie Howe with a statue.
The team has commissioned artist Omri Amrany to create a statue of the hall of famer inside the new Gordie Howe Entrance at Joe Louis Arena next spring. Amrany is the same artist who created the six stainless steel Detroit Tigers statues at Comerica Park in 2000.
11/22 Notes
I’m typing this as my dad is driving my family down to South Carolina (we’re currently somewhere in upper Tennessee) so this won’t be incredibly in depth and as I mentioned in my last post- there will be no reactions to tonight’s game or Friday’s and possibly even Saturday’s as I will not be able to watch these games at my grandparents house.
- George has a nice post up at Kukla’s Korner about some improvements the Detroit Red Wings organization has made (a little more reaching out to charities and a new LED screen for example), but talks about changes they still need to make.
- The U of M hockey team defeated MSU last night, 2-1, in Ann Arbor.
- If you live in the Detroit area, come to the Plymouth Whalers game on December 8th! The Stanley Cup will be on display from 6-10pm. The game against Sudbury starts at 7:05pm and gates open at 5:45pm. As usual, I will be working the game and I hope I get a chance to check out the Cup before the gates open because I’ve never gotten a photo taken with it or been able to touch it. I’ve had a photo opportunity with both the NBA and WNBA trophies at the same time when the Detroit Pistons and Detroit Shock had them the same summer. So make sure you get your tickets today before they sell out! OHL hockey is a lot of fun to watch and you see plenty of fighting (unlike the NHL). I think it was last Friday’s game where there were at least 4 separate fights - always fun for the whole family!
Wings injury updates
- Niklas Kronwall will not play tonight due to the groin injury that has been bothering him for awhile.
“A little frustrated,” he said. “I felt really good yesterday, and then today I had a little setback from the skating yesterday. They don’t want to take any chances.”
I actually got to pick up my autographed 8×10 signed photo of Kronwall yesterday at The Goalies’ Den in Troy. My photo says: “Christy, Good luck with your knee! Niklas Kronwall 55″
- Chris Osgood will be out for at least 3-4 weeks due to a fractured wrist. And the Red Wings have developed a plan to keep Hasek healthy while his backup is out:
The Red Wings have come up with a plan to protect goaltender Dominik Hasek when he has to serve as backup.
If Joey MacDonald, who likely will play Friday against St. Louis, needs to be pulled, it will only be during an intermission. That way, Hasek still has time to get warmed up before playing.
MacDonald could be called upon steadily while Chris Osgood recovers from a broken bone in his left hand, estimated to take three to four weeks. Osgood said Tuesday he would wear a cast for a week and then get re-examined. While he won’t be able to face shots for a while, he skated Tuesday and plans to do so every day.
- Did you know Jiri Hudler is living with fellow country-mate Robert Lang? Lang jokingly refers to Hudler as his third son.
- I just got done reading the Red Wings Essential, which was basically a book with anecdotes and random trivia about the Red Wings from 1926 through 2006. It was a quick read and I definitely learned some random stuff like Ted Lindsay has had over 300 stitches, which is why they call him Scarface. I don’t think it was worth the $20 for the hardcover, but a cheaper paperback version would be worthwhile. Scratch that, you can buy a new one
- Oh, I had made a Gift Guide for a Hockey Fan last year and I’ll try to finish one this break for you guys. It was a popular search keyword so I know there’s a desire out there for it. I specifically cater to the Red Wings fans.
Random: The new Chris Daughtry CD is excellent. I highly suggest buying it. It’s on repeat on my iPod right now. It’s alternative at times and then rock at other times - solid music.
Updates will be less this week
I will not be updating this blog until Saturday night at the earliest. I am leaving Wednesday morning for South Carolina to visit my dad’s parents and won’t be returning until Saturday evening. I won’t be able to watch Wednesday’s game for sure so no reaction to that. Additionally, my mom’s dad (who I’m very close to - we always like to talk sports) was just diagnosed with bladder cancer so between that, school, my internship, and my knee - updates will most definitely be less this week.
Thanks for being understanding…
Behind the Blog: Scarlett Ice
Today’s Behind the Blog features Sherry @ Scarlett Ice, a blog with all things about the Ottawa Senators. Sherry also writes for HLOG with me and a bunch of other female hockey bloggers.
Q.1 – Scarlett Ice only started up in September of this year. What made you create a hockey blog and why the name Scarlett Ice?
I’ve been writing all my life and even played with the idea of going into journalism but realized that I wouldn’t be good at it, haha. I was debating about whether or not to start a hockey blog since the summer. I live blogged the Stanley Cup Finals in my original blog for a couple of my friends who couldn’t watch it but I think the rest of my friends got annoyed at reading all of the hockey content. I didn’t really have anyone I could rant and rave about hockey to and then I realized, hey, this is the Internet, I can rant and rave to whoever I want. Fortunately, there are a lot of people out there who actually like to read my crazy ramblings. You people all need lives.
The name is sort of a long story. In short, it basically encompasses all of the blood, sweat and tears that goes into hockey and it reflects my tendency to wax poetic and be melodramatic.
Q.2 – What do you hope to achieve with your blog over the next year?
Hopefully have it keep on running! I tend to give in to laziness but I’m really committed to this venture and I’d like to keep it to a pretty high standard. I really am surprised by the amount of people that are reading it and how many of my favourite blogs that I’ve been reading for awhile actually think I’m worthy to be linked. I’m not a professional or anything and I really don’t expect anybody to use it as a news source but I’m hoping it’ll be something people will enjoy reading on a regular basis. Readership is one thing, but I’ve really met a lot of great people through the blog-o-sphere [especially the ladies at HLOG, represent!].
Q.3 – When and why did you become an Ottawa Senators fan?
It really was just a matter of being the right place at the right time. I grew up a couple of minutes outside of Toronto so I grew up a Leafs fan, but over the years I just sort of stopped caring about the team. I felt like there was nothing to look forward to with the Leafs anymore. It also coincided with me falling more and more out of love with Toronto the city and more in love with the city of Ottawa. I watched a Sens game against Pittsburgh for the first time a couple of years ago and everything sort of just clicked. I really appreciated what they did on the ice; how they mixed the bare bones of hockey that we all know and love with style and entertainment. Despite some changes to the team, I’ve been a devoted fan ever since.
Q.4 – The Senators have gotten off to a rough start this season after leading the Eastern Conference this year. Why do you think this drop in the standings happened and do you see them turning the corner?
There are about a million reasons fans will point out for their drop. Their lack of goaltending, Murray’s a horrible coach, Muckler’s a horrible GM, Spartacat’s lame, etc. etc. I think there are a ton of reasons we can point to for the drop and actually make a convincing argument for but the real reason is probably in the players’ heads. You can’t dispute the talent on this team and why that’s not translating onto on-ice success is anyone’s guess. Perhaps they’ve finally caved in to the constant pressure of being perrenial Stanley Cup favourites and always coming up short. Maybe the players have the pressures of the playoffs hovering around in their heads and forgetting the fact that they still need to play 82 games to make it to the big dance.
In large part, I think the team is still adjusting to one another. They made more changes in this past off-season than they’ve ever had previously and hopefully are just suffering through some growing pains. I haven’t had any objections to Muckler’s signings in the off-season and I actually thought Martin Gerber was a good pick-up. I’m in the camp that think Muckler’s a good GM, but maybe it’s time that the Senators saw somebody new upstairs. I also feel that Murray has great hockey sense but if he’s done all that he can with this group, than maybe he should move upstairs and get a new bench boss. It’s not a pretty sight to watch this team go through its awkward adjustment period but perhaps, somewhat naively, I believe this team can succeed in the end. I do see them being able to turn the corner and start winning more games, but the team has to make a lot of changes to their work ethic in order for it to happen.
Q.5 – Like me, you are turning 20 in the next couple of months. Do you find it hard to maintain a blog while trying to succeed in school as well?
At times, but I’d think I’d have a hard time succeeding in school regardless, haha!
Maintaining a blog and making sure it’s not just another lame website from somebody with too much time on their hands really takes a lot more time than I had originally expected. I figured my natural brilliance would have taken care of that.
Seriously though, I try to have fun with it and if I didn’t have an hour or two to devote to reading the blogs and writing in it, I’d probably go insane from all of the schoolwork I have to do. It’s a welcome distraction. School is all about time management anyways and it’s good practice for when you go into the real world and have to manage between work and recreation.
Q.6 – Are there any changes you would like to see the Senators make this season? What about the NHL? These changes can include team play, players, marketing and advertising, rules, etc.
I think there are a lot of holes the Senators have tried to fill over the years without a lot of success. Goaltending has always been an issue with them but I don’t want to give up on Gerber yet, but Emery’s clearly earned the playing time and I hope that the Senators don’t feel compelled to play Gerber more, simply because he has the bigger contract.
An actual second line centre would also be nice. I love Mike Fisher but he’s more suited for a specific role on the third line and I think a veteran or someone with a lot more experience could take off some of the pressure on Jason Spezza and add some more scoring touch.
We seem to have an overflow of mobile, puck-moving defencemen which is well suited for the new game but having someone with a bit more grit could really help energize the team and give them some more sandpaper, for lack of a better word. Nobody’s going to replace Zdeno Chara save for a tree, but a more physical player will probably help.
As a marketing student, I actually pull out my hair at how horrible the NHL marketing can be at times although they seem to be making some changes in that department. They have enough resources financially to put together a great advertising campaign but they’ve used it in the wrong way. They have the ultimate asset: the product on the ice and they’ve got players who are extremely marketable. There’s a specific way to market everything and they need to find who their target is and how hockey is viewed within the mind of their consumers.
Like most other people are sayind, I’d also like to see the schedule changed so we can see more Western Teams. I have no objections to Toronto and Ottawa battling 8 times a season because I live in Toronto, but it does get kind of stale after awhile. I’m actually also a fan of San Jose so I definitely would like to see the West more.
Q.7 – Do you believe NHL players should have to wear a partial visor or do you think they should have the option to make their own personal choice?
I can definitely understand arguments for both sides but I believe that the NHL should try to make an effort into grandfathering visors into the league. I may be a little bit biased because my brother almost had his eye gouged out when he played hockey. If anything, I think the bigger issue is to teach players from a young age to be a lot less reckless and to try to have more control over their sticks so freak injuries don’t happen. We saw in the playoffs last year that it’s still possible for sticks to go up and under visors. Asking players who aren’t used to play with them to automatically make the adjustment could be asking for too much, but if it’s something that’s slowly phased in, it could be eventually just become the norm.
Q.8 – Which player has surprised you with their start to this season? Disappointed you?
From the Senators, probably Chris Neil. He’s not the type of guy who will score highlight reel goals, but he’s consistently a hard worker and adds some much needed grit to the team. For the West, I’ve really been surprised by Taylor Pyatt’s performance so far on Vancouver. He only scored 6 goals last year in Buffalo and he’s already scored 8 on a team that definitely needs some offensive punch.
Of course Martin Gerber hasn’t turned out to be the stud we had hoped he would be, but it’s still early and with Emery back, we can ease up on him for awhile. Right now I think it’s just a matter of earning your starts with these two and Emery has made a strong case for himself.
Q.9 – What do you think the role of a hockey blog should be admidst the team, media, and fans?
I think the teams should be thrilled with the amount of hockey blogs and how vocal their fans are. Considering how fast information moves and far reaching the Internet is, having a blog wholly devoted to your team is advertising that you don’t even have to pay for. Because the fans are a large part of how each team as a business is run, I think it’s important for teams to listen to what the bloggers are saying because most of the credible hockey blogs out there actually have a lot of great things to say. Those with reputable blogs have very well-informed opinions and actual useful input that the brass at each team could actually use. Granting bloggers press-passes is a great idea because you’re proving that you’re fan friendly but at the same time, you can’t be granting it to every chump with a keyboard. Blogs in general have become extremely culturally relevant and reading them and working together with them, I feel, is a very improtant part of understanding your fanbase.
Q.10 - Is there any hockey blog or website that you look to for inspiration?
About a million! Every single blog I have in my links section I try to read on a regular basis and they all have something great to contribute. James Mirtle’s Hockey Blog was the first that I ever read and I really enjoy it because it’s both informative and humorous. Golbez’s Hockey Rants is another classic. “Behind the Jerseyâ€, Hockeygirl’s “Double D(ion)†and Jordi’s “Girls Don’t Love Hockey†are blogs that really inspired me to start my own blog because it was nice to see a movement of female hockey fans with actual things to say getting their voices out there.
Any additional comments?
Definitely thanks to everybody who’s been reading so far and leaving me such nice comments. Thanks to Christy for allowing me to take part in this wonderful feature! If you haven’t noticed, I tend to talk a lot about things I’m passionate about. A special thanks to all of those hockey bloggers out there who have welcomed me with such open arms. I feel all warm and fuzzy inside. I’ll try my best to make my blog not suck if you guys promise to still love me.