Neuvirth hopes to play in AHL next season
Michal Neuvirth was the starting goaltender for the Plymouth Whalers during the playoffs and only had secured the number one spot about a month before the playoffs started. The Washington Capitals prospect played some great hockey en route to the OHL title this past season, but it was a hard adjustment for Neuvirth especially off the ice.
“Everything was different here from the Czech Republic and I was a little nervous,†Neuvirth admitted. “There were no other Czechs on the team, but there was a Slovak (Jozef Sladok) and he was a rookie, too. Their language is a little different, but I could understand him.
“The first four months were hard for me because I couldn’t even talk to my coach.†…
“In the beginning of the year, we changed every game with Jeremy Smith,†said Neuvirth, who was the Czech Republic’s No. 1 goalie at the 2006 World U-18 tournament. “It was so hard for us. We didn’t know who was starting the next game. In the first two months it was good game or bad, we still changed.
â€After two months, it was so much better. The playoffs were awesome. We played the best hockey I have ever seen. It was so exciting for me and I think it was really good for me.†…
“I don’t want to play OHL again, but it is not up to me,†Neuvirth said. “I hope that I can play in the AHL.â€
Is ESPN in the NHL’s future?
Thanks to a link from Paul @ Kukla’s Korner, the SportsBusiness Journal is reporting that the NHL approached ESPN about showing NHL games on ESPN2 as early as the 2008-2009 season.
Multiple sources described the conversations as preliminary. The two started talking the week of July 16 when the NHL approached ESPN about NBC’s nine-game regular-season schedule, plus the playoffs. NBC holds the rights to air the coming season as part of a revenue-sharing agreement, and the network holds a one-year option for the 2008-09 season.
It’s not certain that NBC would exercise that option, given the sport’s tepid ratings on the network. Regular-season ratings on NBC averaged a 0.9 during the 2006-07 season and a 1.0 during the 2007-08 season over nine telecasts.
Now I could totally be reading the excerpt above wrong, but would the NHL and ESPN only happen if NBC drops their option with the league? Is there any way that Versus can drop the NHL and have TV deals with ESPN and NBC?
A return to ESPN could boost the league’s profile on the network’s news shows. According to an ESPN study of its 1 a.m. “SportsCenter†program, the show featured 29 fewer minutes of NHL coverage in March 2007 than in March 2004, the last year ESPN aired NHL games. That amounts to a 28 percent decline in hockey’s allotment of airtime, ESPN ombudsman Le Anne
Schreiber wrote in May.The move would mark a change at Versus, as well, which is open to giving up its cable exclusivity if it can tap into ESPN’s marketing prowess. Over the past two years, Versus executives have complained privately that ESPN ignored their network. They are hoping for a situation that mirrors the NBA, where ESPN and TNT push viewers to each network’s games.
I am all for the ESPN showing some games as soon as possible. Unfortunately, ESPN is perceived as the “Worldwide Leader in Sports” by most people. I know that a lot of sports fans realize that the ESPN is not the sports leader it once was (I mean the spelling bee? Seriously.), but I think the lack of hockey on SportsCenter is hurting the NHL’s perception in the US and getting some games including playoff games on ESPN2 is a step in the right direction.
One KK member left this comment: “Anybody can say what they want, but Vs didn’t have Melrose. Advantage: Versus.” That was funny. I can’t stand Barry Melrose.
Introducing BTJ19 and La Liga Report
As you may have noticed, I didn’t post much on Behind the Jersey this weekend. I do have my reasons and hopefully you’ll like two of them. I’m happy to introduce two new blogs in the BTJ family.
1. BTJ19.com (or Yzerman.net): I mentioned earlier that I had been working on a Steve Yzerman fansite. Well, I’m ready to release it to the public. It still is a work in progress and I’m continually adding new articles as well as updating my archives with more photographs, videos, audio, and articles. A lot of Google search results regarding Yzerman sent readers to Behind the Jersey so I decided I would make a more thorough website dedicated to my favorite player.
Contest: I am giving away a free Detroit Free Press book, “The Captain,” and one of the numbered Nineteen books given out only at the Joe during Yzerman’s retirement ceremony.
2. La Liga Report: My younger brother, David, has decided to start his own sports blog. Unfortunately he’s not quite so into hockey like I am, but he’s one of those crazy soccer (or I should say football) fans. And yes, we get the Fox Soccer Channel at my house because of him. His new blog is dedicated to covering the La Liga (a Spanish soccer league with great teams like Barcelona and Real Madrid). He will also talk other soccer news, but his primary focus will be the La Liga. Please stop by his blog and say hi, but be nice! 
Note: I recently got a new hosting plan that allows me to have an unlimited number of websites under my account (at no extra charge). If any hockey or Detroit sports blogger out there would be interested in getting their own domain and free hosting, send me an email and we can talk. It’d cost you $8.88 for a domain for one year, but that would be it and you’d get a free email account and hosting!
Danny Markov may play in Russia
According to a translation done via George @ Snapshots, defenseman Danny Markov is 50/50 on his likelihood of playing in Russia versus the NHL.
Yesterday the correspondent of “The Soviet Sports” Vladislav DOMRACHEV in conversation with the general manager of “Vityaz” Alexei Zhamnov has taken an interest about prospects Markov to become in the player of Chekhovian club.
Zhamnov: I met Daniel both in the USA, and in Moscow where it came to have a rest, - have told Zhamnov. - If at [the time he] will not turn out to sign the contract with club of NHL it for certain will lead this season [with] us. At least first of all Markov will be considered with the offer of “Vityaz,” and already then from other clubs of a superleague.
Domrachev: What now probability to see Markov in this season in [the] superleague?
Zhamnov: Fifty on fifty.
Obviously, I’d like to see the physicality Markov brings back on the Red Wings, but we have so many solid defenseman waiting to get a roster spot that we don’t need to re-sign him. I understand why GM Ken Holland would not be willing to pay more than the $2.5 million/year salary.
I am done with the Tour de France
I’ve been religiously following the Tour de France over the past 5-6 summers to help pass the time between the end and beginning of the NHL season. I know cycling is incredibly different from hockey, but there’s something about time trials, intense stages with plenty of pain, and a unique form of teamwork that kept me watching the race every July.
This summer, I decided that I would not watch the TdF. The cyclists I had cheered for over the years have either retired (Lance Armstrong) or have been pulled from the sport because of doping. I can’t even recognize the name of a lot of the top cyclists left anymore.
I still have read some articles about the Tour de France so I knew that Alexandre Vinokourov (one of the few names I did already know) was a pre-race favorite, was currently 23rd overall, and had won the 15th stage yesterday (and the 13th stage on Saturday). However, the cyclist had an awful stage on Sunday and was no longer in contention to win.
I then find out today that he has been pulled out of the race for doping. He tested positive for the blood transfusion in a test taken on Saturday and we didn’t hear about it until today (Tuesday).
“Vino has tested positive having to do with a blood transfusion and the team is leaving the Tour,” team spokeswoman Corinne Druey said, using the rider’s nickname. …
Race director Christian Prudhomme said the case showed that cycling’s drug-testing system doesn’t work.
“It’s an absolute failure of the system,” he said. “It is a system which does not defend the biggest race in the world. This is a system which can’t last.”
British rider David Millar, who was holding a press conference in Pau when the news broke, said: “Jesus Christ, I’m speechless.”
“With a guy of his stature and class, in cycling’s current situation, we might as well pack our bags and go home,” said Millar, who returned from a two-year doping ban in the Tour de France last year. Millar was stripped of his gold medal from the 2003 world championships after admitting taking the banned blood-booster EPO.
Unfortunately, I can’t say that I’m surprised another cyclist was found to be doping, but the TdF organizers had made a big deal about weeding out the dopers and I guess I had hoped that things might have changed now that most of the big names were kicked out or had retired. Sadly, I was wrong.
As of right now, I am done with the Tour de France and the sport of cycling. I know steroids is found in every sport (but to what extent varies), but time and time again the cyclists have let me down. Why should I invest my time and energy into cheering for a cyclist (ex. Floyd Landis) when they’re doping and likely to get banned from the sport at some point? I’m even starting to question Armstrong as a “clean” athlete when it seems that pretty much every other cyclist doped at some point.
Sorry for ranting about the TdF when this is a hockey blog, but I’m guessing some casual cycling fans like myself are thinking the same way and are no longer tuning into the race (which can only hurt Versus because this race is a big draw for them).
Most of my favorite Armstrong moments are in that YouTube video.
A look at season ticket waiting lists
As a sport management and communication studies double major, I’ve noticed myself taking a greater interest in sport business articles. As a result, you’re going to find me writing about these articles more frequently and they won’t always be NHL business stories, but I’ll try to connect them to NHL business if a connection exists.
This is a lengthy post about the Detroit sports’ teams and their waiting lists as well as a look at every single NHL team’s ticket sales.
Anyways, I was reading a post at the AOL FanHouse about the length of the waiting list for the Philadelphia Eagles (NFL). The team has over 60,000 names on the waiting list.
According to Eagles president Joe Banner, the waiting list now contains more than 60,000 names and, last year, a grand total of 15 of them were given the opportunity to buy tickets. Fifteen!
“We don’t know what it will be this year,” Banner said. “It could be 20. It could be 12. We don’t know yet. But it’s like nobody is not renewing their tickets. For the people who already have season tickets, the renewal rate is 99.9-something percent. That’s the situation.”
Michael at the FanHouse made this observation:
At 15 a year, it’ll take 4,000 years to get through 60,000 names. So with demand far outstripping supply for tickets, why don’t the Eagles raise ticket prices? Fans often complain that it’s too expensive to get to a game, but isn’t something that is too scarce to meet customer demand the very definition of an underpriced product?
The Green Bay packers currently have 74,500 fans on the waiting list.
It’s figures like those above that remind you of how dominant the NFL is here in the United States.
Tigers’ ticket sales break franchise record
The Detroit Tigers have sold more tickets this season than any other in their franchise history.
Some time Wednesday, the Tigers set an all-time record for ticket sales. In July. In a ballpark with less seating than Tiger Stadium. In an era with more entertainment choices and less disposable income than ever. In the worst economy in state history. I’m sure I could go on, but the point is clear: this is truly remarkable. New ticket sales will only continue to add up for the rest of the year.
It shows you what a great product and affordable ticket prices can do to game attendance.
Not surprisingly, the Wings have not lowered prices for the regular season, which wasn’t a surprise considering they sold out every home game. Admittedly, we saw plenty of empty seats on TV, but I know I had a hard time buying regular season tickets on Ticketmaster. I suspect that the Wings will slightly lower their playoff ticket prices since the team did not have a single sold out playoff game.
Chelios’ work ethic inspires teammates
I open up the Detroit News homepage to find the front page headlines, one of which includes “Chelios cheats Father Time.” I find it odd that the Wings actually made the front page during the offseason when it wasn’t a major signing and think that news must be really slow or something.
Now I don’t think a playoff game went by without broadcasters or reporters noting the age of Chris Chelios (45) and Dominik Hasek (42). I thought I had heard all the stories about Chelios’ work ethic and the activities he uses to stay in shape. But I was wrong.
Reporter John Niyo travelled to Malibu, California to observe Chelios’ conditioning program in the summer and you can’t help but come away impressed (and I’d love to have Niyo’s job and go to Cali to write about hockey during the offseason by the way).
Not only do we learn about what Cheli likes to do to stay in shape in Malibu, but we learn about the “Malibu Gang” which consists of five individuals, all but one of them are in their 40s (the other is 74). Cheli starts training at 5:45am and works out until lunch. After which, he goes out in the Pacific Ocean.
“I hear that every day now — I’ve got guys in Detroit and all around the league telling me, ‘Keep it up. You’re a real inspiration for me, still playing at 45,’ ” said Chelios, whose NHL Players Association duties also are keeping him busy this summer, shuttling back and forth to Toronto for meetings.
“But you know what?” he added, nodding in Wildman’s direction. “I wake up every morning and have a guy who’s 74 tearing me up like he does. So that’s my inspiration.”
There’s this, too: His eldest son is headed to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, this fall to play Tier I junior hockey in the hopes of landing a college scholarship. And to get ready, Dean — a 6-1, 170-pound forward — is training alongside his father this summer.
“He’s got to start training a lot harder than he’s used to,” Chris said. “So that’s part of my motivation, too, to try to show my kids the work ethic you have to have.”
NHL is looking pretty good
So yesterday, I made a draft post in WordPress and planned on completing it tonight. I come online to finish it off and I find that IwoCPO @ Abel to Yzerman has already discussed the very thing I had planned on bringing up.
Does Little Gary have any clue about the opportunity dropped in his lap? The other “big three†sports are all mired in controversy and the NHL, if marketed, could come out smelling like a pretty little rose. A rose perched on the sill of your kitchen. Yes, surrounded by empty beer bottles and crusted mac and cheese bowls, but a rose nonetheless.
Baseball’s lead story: the dirtbag that is Barry Bonds. Football: the absolute dirtbag that is Michael Vick. Basketball: a gambling controversy that’s going to spread to every corner of that league of thugs.
Compared to other leagues, the NHL could be looking pretty good in terms of public relations. No, I’m not talking about TV ratings or contracts, etc. because the NHL is obviously lacking in those departments. But the NHL is the one big league that is not deeply involved in a scandal and they should use this to their advantage in promoting the league.
NBA = Referee Scandal
I’m going to try to quickly explain what has gone down so far: A veteran NBA referee, Tim Donaghy, made calls to affect the point spread on certain games that he and his associates had money on the table. These bets included thousands of dollars and were placed on games over the last two seasons. Some of his associates are apparently in organized crime and other arrests are expected in the future. The FBI is investigating the matter and the NBA is doing all they can to assist the investigation.
No referee, umpire, linesmen or other in-game official has ever been arrested or indicted for game- or match-fixing in the history of the four major sports. …
Gambling long has been a problem in sports, and leagues have made a point of educating players of the potential pitfalls. The NBA, for example, discusses gambling at rookie orientation, even bringing in former mobster Michael Franceze to speak.
Matt @ Detroit Bad Boys wrote about the scandal from the viewpoint of a Detroit Pistons’ fan. It’s safe to say that referee Donaghy was not a fan of Pistons’ forward Rasheed Wallace.
MLB = Steroid Scandal
While the steroid scandal is no longer at the height it once was at with the MLB, it still is a hot topic with Barry Bonds closing in on the home run record currently held by legend Hank Aarons. Bonds is two home runs away from tying the league record of 755 runs. The federal grand jury is investigating Bonds in the BALCO mess and could be indicted within the next six months. Back in March, two San Francisco Chronicle reporters had their book, Game of Shadows, released to the world and they made a very convincing case that Bonds has used steroids. Personally, it makes me sick that he’s going to break Aaron’s record.
NFL = Discipline Problems
Over the past couple of seasons, the NFL has had a lot of problems with their players getting arrested. The league decided to implement a disciplinary system (ex. commissioner Goodell suspended Tennessee Titans’ cornerback for an entire season). Things got worse when Atlanta Falcons’ quarterback Michael Vick was indicted for being a participant in a dogfighting ring with fights being held on his property. Dogs that lost fights were brutally killed whether by drowning, electrocution, shot, or hung. Agents took 70 dogs from the property.
Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick was served a summons to appear in federal court to face charges over competitive dogfighting and brutally killing pit bulls, court documents said.
Vick, who faces up to six years in prison if convicted, was handed the summons Thursday by a U.S. Marshals Service official in the courthouse in Richmond, Va. He and three associates must appear in Richmond next Thursday for bond hearings and arraignments on charges contained in a detailed, 18-page indictment handed up Tuesday.
I certainly would not want to be the Falcons right about now. Not only do they have a PR mess, but Joey Harrington (former Lions’ QB) is their backup. But that’s another story in of itself.
Back to the NHL…
So as you can see, the NHL is doing pretty good right about now in terms of discipline and steroids. I believe the NHL should be promoting its players as good citizens and players. Hockey fans know that hockey players are some of the nicest athletes around and the NHL should use that to their advantage at a time when the other three leagues are struggling.
Free Press interviews Scotty Bowman
Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press interviewed former head coach and current team consultant Scotty Bowman about his life after coaching. I still find it hard to believe that Bowman is 73 years old and still continues to work as much as he does.
Q: Earlier this summer, the Maple Leafs approached you about working for them. What did they offer you?
A: It was a consultant job. They really didn’t define it — I didn’t get into a lot. They asked for permission — they didn’t need it, but the Wings granted it. I think they’re just trying to solidify their hockey department. I think they’re talking to John Muckler and Harry Sinden, but I don’t know if those guys are interested; they’re pretty active guys. They already have a manager. It’s hard to predict how things mesh. It’s hard to bring somebody in part way through. I only had one small interview, and I decided I’m pretty set in my ways.
Q: Will there come a time when you pull back entirely from working?
A: (laughs) I don’t know. I like the game. I don’t really consider it work. I like to be hooked up with the team, go to camp, the draft, the trade deadline — all those functions, I enjoy those kinds of things. I like to hang around.