The Flyers and Rangers have been at each other’s throats since the days of Dave Schultz and Philly’s infamous Broad Street Bullies. (Rusty Kennedy/AP)

By Stu Hackel

After months of buildup and promotion, the Winter Classic is finally upon us. It is, of course, nothing more than Game 569 of the regular season schedule, worth the same two points in the standings as any other game — or (sigh) two for the winner and one for the loser if it ends in a regulation tie.

But the exposure and popularity this unique game has brought to hockey during the past four years can’t — and shouldn’t — be denied. For that we must credit the NHL’s partnership with NBC. Their deal may be far less lucrative for the league’s teams than the ones enjoyed by other major pro sports, but it’s the best the league has ever had, especially because
NBC and its offshoots respect the product and help create new ways to expose it.

The same can be said for the NHL’s deal with HBO which, through its”24/7″ series, provides an unprecedented look at the run-up to the game. Nothing has ever come close to bringing viewers inside the NHL as it really is, looks and sounds.

Read More…

Ex-Penguins favorite Jaromir Jagr is stunned by the level of animosity that Pittsburgh fans have for him. (Cliff Welch/Icon SMI)

By Stu Hackel

With cameras everywhere, especially from HBO, the Flyers play their biggest rival on Thursday night in Pittsburgh. It will be the first trip back in the hated orange and black for two notable ex-Penguins, Max Talbot and Jaromir Jagr.

The welcome for Jagr likely won’t be any friendlier than it was when he returned with the Capitals and Rangers. He was loudly booed in the city where he began his career and once ranked second only to Mario Lemieux in adoration. In fact, the fans’ hostility might be more amped considering that Jagr flirted with signing with Pittsburgh last summer before reaching a deal with Philly.

Read More…

Predators defenseman Shea Weber is a recent addition to the NHL’s troubling wave of concussion victims. (Danny Murphy/Icon SMI)

By Stu Hackel

The news on Tuesday was not good: Three more NHLers, all important players on their clubs, were diagnosed with concussions or concussion symptoms.

According to the figures provided to Red Light by Dustin Fink, whose The Concussion Blog tracks head injuries and news of concussions in many professional and amateur sports, 61 NHL players had suffered concussions as of the holiday break in the schedule. Compare that total with the 44 last season during an even longer period: through January 3.

If you add the three most recent victims — Predators star defenseman Shea Weber, Kings leftwinger Simon Gagne and Maple Leafs defenseman John-Michael Liles – to Fink’s 61, that makes 64 concussed NHLers so far in the 2011-12 campaign, roughly a 45 percent increase over last season around this time.

Read More…

He’s the one: Defenseman Bryan Allen signals to the officials that goaltender Cam Ward was the last Hurricane to touch the puck before it went into the Devils’ net on Monday night. (Andy Mead/YCJ/Icon SMI)

By Stu Hackel

The NHL has a few statistical rules that cause some people to scratch their heads. And when Hurricanes goaltender Cam Ward was credited with a goal against the Devils on Monday night without ever actually shooting the puck – or anyone on his team even shooting the puck – well, it’s easy to imagine the howls in various quarters.

I’m not among the howlers. Hockey’s rules state that the player who touches the puck last for the team that scores gets credit for the goal, and that was Ward. There’s nothing wrong with that.
Read More…

Forward Jason Zucker, Team USA’s captain, will be playing in his third WJC tournament. (Sergei Grits/AP)

By Stu Hackel

The best hockey of any season is the Stanley Cup playoffs, but not too far behind is the World Junior Championship, the great international tournament that begins every year on the day after Christmas.

Canada, the U.S., Sweden and Russia are considered the favorites in this year’s 10-country tourney, which will be played in Alberta, both Edmonton and Calgary.

The WJC provides a great chance for fans to see many NHL stars of tomorrow perform in a high-pressure environment. Not only are they playing for the glory of their home countries, they’re also trying to impress pro scouts who jam the arenas to get a better look at their prospects.

Read More…

In the season’s most high-profile incident of running the goaltender, Boston’s Milan Lucic faced a disciplinary hearing for hitting Buffalo’s Ryan Miller in open ice on November 12. (Fred Kfoury/Icon SMI)

By Stu Hackel

It’s hard being a goalie at any level of hockey, especially in the NHL. In fact, during the Original Six era when goalies were barefaced and their equipment rudimentary, people routinely called it the toughest job in sports. The gear is immeasurably better today — obviously, because some of it is too big — but goaltenders still have it tough and are increasingly subject to injury. Their plight is being made all the more difficult by the incessant crease crashing that is now a common practice in the NHL.

Read More…

Patrick Roy is a Montreal hero and popular favorite to be the Canadiens’ next coach. (Todd Korol/Reuters)

By Stu Hackel

Pat Hickey of The Montreal Gazette had this very cogent observation on coaches like the Capitals’ Dale Hunter who make the leap from junior hockey to the NHL. Hickey brought up Hunter as an example to those who are calling for Patrick Roy, who is currently coaching and running the major junior Quebec Remparts, to eventually become the Montreal Canadiens’ head coach.

“If you want a preview of what Roy might be like as a head coach look at Dale Hunter’s early struggles in Washington,” Hickey wrote. “Hunter may turn out to be a great coach, but he’s learning that coaching millionaires isn’t the same as coaching teenagers in junior who are motivated to reach the next level. The parallel is especially important here because Hunter and Roy had similar situations in the junior ranks.

“In addition to being coaches, they were owners and had control over personnel decisions. Much of their success stems from the fact their junior teams are in major markets and have the financial wherewithal to recruit and sign players, divert players headed to U.S. colleges and manipulate the draft.”

Roy is a link to better times, a Habs hero who is considered the favorite among the team’s fans to take the Montreal job during the offseason. He certainly can coach, having won the Memorial Cup but, as busy as he’s been with the Remparts, he’s not familiar with today’s NHL. Fans who hope he’d be able to come right in and immediately straighten out the Canadiens should perhaps look at his old Nordiques rival Hunter and be careful what they wish for.

Brent Peterson in 2007. (David E. Klutho/SI)

By Stu Hackel

Let’s take a break from concussions and language issues for a bit and talk about a more uplifiting subject on and away from the rink.

Before going any further, take a look at this video of Brent Peterson, the former NHL player and Nashville Predators associate coach who has been undergoing experimental treatments for Parkinson’s Disease. If that doesn’t move you a bit, you can’t be moved.

Rendered unable to walk normally — he could only shuffle his feet — without his medication, Peterson was suddenly on a treadmill at the Preds’ practice facility on Wednesday thanks to the treatments.

TSN had more video of Petey’s tale as well (here and here) on Thursday night.

His is a truly remarkable story, not just because he’s a great guy (which he is), but also for the hope he gives others who suffer from Parkinson’s debilitating symptoms.

It is the season of miracles.

Alex Semin of the Washington Capitals is a supremely talented player, but maddeningly inconsistent. (Russell Lansford/Icon SMI)

By Stu Hackel

One of hockey’s most breathtaking plays has nearly vanished from the NHL: the goal scored by a player who zips down the wing and blows a slap shot past the goaltender.

“You can’t do that kind of shot today,” Avalanche forward Matt Duchene​ told my SI.com cohort Adrian Dater at his regular Denver Post gig. “It’s not going to work. The goalies are going to make the save, and you can’t even take the time to wind up like that off the rush. The (defenseman) is going to get to you and take away the puck or block the shot in the time it takes you to wind the stick back.”

Read More…

Too tough for his own good: Maple Leafs winger Colby Armstrong did not tell team doctors about the concussion symptoms he felt after a playing the Canucks last Saturday. (Gary Angus/ZUMAPRESS.com)

By Stu Hackel

Should the NHL adopt the NFL’s newest concussion protocol that’s designed to help teams spot injuries and sit players who want to play through head trauma? The only intelligent response has to be, “Why not?”

Read More…