Bertmega

I think Daigle soured Yashin slightly. In fact, I think there would have been a much different Yashin if Daigle was traded to Quebec at the draft. 

However, in the end they got a nice haul for the Yashin.

Thanks for posting this. I vaguely recall this and this brings back some fond memories of 90's hockey. 

And yes, nothing screams the 90's like teal and purple. 

You make an excellent point regarding the lockout and the end of many great players careers. I was thinking the same thing the other day.

If there is a full season lost, we may see the end of most if not all players that began their careers in the early to mid-90's.

To me, that era (90's) was the golden age for the sport. It would be a real shame if such players fade into the sunset without the proper sendoff.

Here's to hoping the lockout ends soon.

Great article.

I think the WC got such low ratings because it was on 1/2/12 (a Monday that many people had to work) and it took place smack in the middle of College Bowl day.

I know they could not do the 1st due to competition with NFL, but maybe Saturday 12/31 would have been a better option.

I highly doubt Colorado or San Jose will drawl better ratings or Toronto will pull better ratings in the US market.

I think this was the best WC I have witnessed so far and not because the Flyers were in it, but because the weekend event that they made out of it. The venue and the rivalry. HBO also has done a great job promoting the sport. I have friends that live in West Virginia and North Dakota that were chirping about it due to HBO.

I think the best thing to do moving forward is merge the Winter and the Heritage Classic. Include Canadian teams and see how the event goes when they are playing an outdoor game in Winnipeg in January.

All in all, this is a great venue to promote the sport despite the ratings. Again, in my meaningless opinion, if it were on Saturday I think the ratings would have been better.

I've played in both a B and C league and I enjoyed the C much more. Problem is with a lot of rinks the A level has been all but eliminated forcing a lot of B teams into the C world; which isn't all that bad, it makes the C teams play a little harder.

I played with a few ECH'ers and for the most part I did not like them. I did not like that they come into an over 30 league on a Sunday and act like they are playing for Lord Stanleys Holy Grail.

All in all there are competitive jerks at all levels in all sports. I've been around this game long enough to know that.

Anyhow, thanks for the blog, it brought back some memories of playing.

If you don't mind me asking, where do you officiate? My last serious days were in Oaks at Center Ice. Before that I used to play for HNA.

Wait no Ilya Bryzgalov? I thought his contract endorsements alone could buy the trophy.....

I am still rusty in the language of Holmgren, I need to break out my English-Holmgren dictionary, but didn't he say: "Flyers fans are going to love him" when he was traded to us from Phoenix?

Doesn't that translate to he is the biggest assclown to wear a Flyers uniform?

Yeah it was a plastic cup. The youtube quality is poor. I recall this game clearly. I was living down in North Carolina (actaully surprised that it was televised) and my roommate at the time was from Buffalo. He was livid, I was happy as can be.

Anyhow, yes it was a cup of beer...plastic cup with about a 1/4 of the beer remaining. The sound bites from the ESPN feed were great.

Never forget that game or that playoff run.

Oddly enough, being born in Janurary-March helps a lot too. If you look at a particular draft class (any one at random), look at the birthdates of the majority of the players. It usually falls between January and March.

This obviously isn't a 100% science, but it helps.

They say that most levels of competitive play say you have to be born in a certian year to play at a certain level. If you were born in Jan of 2000 vs Dec of 2000 the January born player has 11 months more of development. At an older age it shouldn't matter, but at the mite through bantam levels 11 months can mean a few inches or a few pounds.

I know this is probably a tough pill to sell to a little guys, but I thought I would throw it in there.

This was a study from Malcolm Gladwell's book "Outliers"

Good stuff. Have you ever considered any beer leagues?

Also good you went on to coaching. Good luck with the twins. Maybe they'll be Claude Giroux and Bobrovsky in a few years.

Again thanks for the story, it reminded me of my youth, except I was Jordon and my close buddy was Scotty Pippen....