Thursday, August 26, 2004
Thursday's Crazy Roundup
When I went to my monthly Wiccan chant-and-drum circle, we put a hex on Team USA and it seems to be working!! Even the injury replacements are getting injured!
(Don�t mess with my witchy powers!)
(Edit: Thanks to astute read Daniel for pointing out that Martin was replacing Leopold)
First, Jordan Leopold, the Flames super youngster, will miss the rest of the tournament with a concussion and will be replaced by Paul �I�m not the Prime Minster of Canada� Martin. Second, the ogre Hal Gill will miss the tournament with a broken foot. He�s no real loss, but the Americans don�t exactly have the depth to keep replacing the replacements.
Will Slavic heartbreaker Andy Roach finally get his big chance?
---
I know the NHL isn�t exactly the bastion of great marketing practices, but why is it that they are trying (or not trying) so little to promote the World Cup of Hockey?
First, you can�t even see the exhibition games live on TV! (Unless you live in Toronto and pay $300/month for Laffs TV). Second, the official website doesn�t even have complete boxscores for the exhibition games. Would it be so hard to list the complete rosters and the other factual information? At least the European web sites give us complete boxscores and other information that you can�t find from the OFFICIAL website.
My friend from Prague asked me for a complete boxscore from the Canada-USA exhibition game, and I couldn�t find one anywhere!
It took me 3 seconds to find one for the Slovak-Sweden game, but even our large Canadian net and press presence couldn�t produce the same thing for our game. I�m somewhat ashamed.
I know many of the players are treating this tournament like a second-rate event, but why does the NHL, with the potential of a lockout, not do more to ensure that this tournament is promoted and hyped up?
(Edit: Daniel also points out that you can find some boxscores at Usahockey.com. They don't list the complete rosters, but those may be somewhere on the website. I'm glad they make it soooo easy to find it)
No Linking!!!: From PJ at Sharkspage.com:
I just noticed the official World Cup of Hockey website prohibits any link not to the front page of their website. Linking to the schedule page so fans can find dates and times of ESPN broadcasts is not allowed. Read the terms of service. Bill Daly says the NHL set up www.nhlcbanews.com "to allow our fans to have as much current and relevant information as possible to inform them on the collective bargaining process." But allowing fans to have current and relevant access to what time and channel the World Cup games are on is prohibited?
You know, I don�t believe there really is anything the NHL or anyone can do to stop you from linking to any page on their website. If there page is a free domain webpage, then it�s available to anyone at any time. The NHL wants you to wade through their 300 pages of advertising and crap to get to what you want, but why this sudden attitude towards deep-linking? Really, the NHL just keeps taking steps backward to �promote� its product.
To any webmaster: Link to whatever public domain page you damn well want. Let�s see the NHL try to do anything about it. What a great use of money it would be for them to spend money and time on frivilous lawsuits when they could be spending those resouces on something more important like getting the CBA hammered out.
---
The �Litvinov Trio� of Jiri Slegr, Robert "Mercenary" Reichel, and Martin "Rip Van Winkle" Rucinsky missed the Czechia/Germany exhibition game (Which Czechia won 7:4, thanks in part to Radek Dvorak�s 4 point effort) to attend the funeral of Ivan Hlinka.
After 1000�s of mourners paid their tributes/respects to Hlinka, Litvinov�s Hockey Club (HC Chemopetrol) decided to change the name of their stadium (Zimny Stadion) in Litvinov; It will be renamed under the name �Winter Stadium Ivan Hlinka� (Zimn� �tadi�n Ivana Hlinku) in honour of the much beloved Czech coach.
It wasn�t just the Czechs that liked the guy, either. My friend Daniel, from Slovakia, wrote this to me the other day:
---
More bad news for Team Slovakia!
The Slovaks are woefully thin at center, and now Slovak crooner Michal Handzus has injured his shoulder after he missed a bodycheck on a Swedish forward towards the end of their exhibition match. Apparently, some idiot opened the penalty box door and Handzus smashed his shoulder against the edge of the plexiglass. DO PICE!
Handzus went back to Philly for an exam, and Flyers� officials will have to decide if Handzus needs surgery, or can play through with some rehab instead. There really isn�t anyone who can replace the physical and defensive presence that Handzus brings to the squad, so I�m hoping the damage isn�t too bad.
Still, perhaps this would be R�bert D�me's big chance? :) :)
(Edit #3: Sounds like Rastislav Pavlikovsky will be the replacement if Handzus bows out... yoikes!)
(Don�t mess with my witchy powers!)
(Edit: Thanks to astute read Daniel for pointing out that Martin was replacing Leopold)
First, Jordan Leopold, the Flames super youngster, will miss the rest of the tournament with a concussion and will be replaced by Paul �I�m not the Prime Minster of Canada� Martin. Second, the ogre Hal Gill will miss the tournament with a broken foot. He�s no real loss, but the Americans don�t exactly have the depth to keep replacing the replacements.
Will Slavic heartbreaker Andy Roach finally get his big chance?
---
I know the NHL isn�t exactly the bastion of great marketing practices, but why is it that they are trying (or not trying) so little to promote the World Cup of Hockey?
First, you can�t even see the exhibition games live on TV! (Unless you live in Toronto and pay $300/month for Laffs TV). Second, the official website doesn�t even have complete boxscores for the exhibition games. Would it be so hard to list the complete rosters and the other factual information? At least the European web sites give us complete boxscores and other information that you can�t find from the OFFICIAL website.
My friend from Prague asked me for a complete boxscore from the Canada-USA exhibition game, and I couldn�t find one anywhere!
It took me 3 seconds to find one for the Slovak-Sweden game, but even our large Canadian net and press presence couldn�t produce the same thing for our game. I�m somewhat ashamed.
I know many of the players are treating this tournament like a second-rate event, but why does the NHL, with the potential of a lockout, not do more to ensure that this tournament is promoted and hyped up?
(Edit: Daniel also points out that you can find some boxscores at Usahockey.com. They don't list the complete rosters, but those may be somewhere on the website. I'm glad they make it soooo easy to find it)
No Linking!!!: From PJ at Sharkspage.com:
I just noticed the official World Cup of Hockey website prohibits any link not to the front page of their website. Linking to the schedule page so fans can find dates and times of ESPN broadcasts is not allowed. Read the terms of service. Bill Daly says the NHL set up www.nhlcbanews.com "to allow our fans to have as much current and relevant information as possible to inform them on the collective bargaining process." But allowing fans to have current and relevant access to what time and channel the World Cup games are on is prohibited?
You know, I don�t believe there really is anything the NHL or anyone can do to stop you from linking to any page on their website. If there page is a free domain webpage, then it�s available to anyone at any time. The NHL wants you to wade through their 300 pages of advertising and crap to get to what you want, but why this sudden attitude towards deep-linking? Really, the NHL just keeps taking steps backward to �promote� its product.
To any webmaster: Link to whatever public domain page you damn well want. Let�s see the NHL try to do anything about it. What a great use of money it would be for them to spend money and time on frivilous lawsuits when they could be spending those resouces on something more important like getting the CBA hammered out.
---
The �Litvinov Trio� of Jiri Slegr, Robert "Mercenary" Reichel, and Martin "Rip Van Winkle" Rucinsky missed the Czechia/Germany exhibition game (Which Czechia won 7:4, thanks in part to Radek Dvorak�s 4 point effort) to attend the funeral of Ivan Hlinka.
After 1000�s of mourners paid their tributes/respects to Hlinka, Litvinov�s Hockey Club (HC Chemopetrol) decided to change the name of their stadium (Zimny Stadion) in Litvinov; It will be renamed under the name �Winter Stadium Ivan Hlinka� (Zimn� �tadi�n Ivana Hlinku) in honour of the much beloved Czech coach.
It wasn�t just the Czechs that liked the guy, either. My friend Daniel, from Slovakia, wrote this to me the other day:
It's so sad that Ivan Hlinka isn't here. He was...very popular in Slovakia. He had plenty of good friends among former team-mates from the Czecho-Slovak national team, and good friends among Slovak coaches and officials. Furthermore, he always encouraged the Slovak team, even in the end of the 90s when the Czech team always defeated ours. He was a very respected personality by our fans.
---
More bad news for Team Slovakia!
The Slovaks are woefully thin at center, and now Slovak crooner Michal Handzus has injured his shoulder after he missed a bodycheck on a Swedish forward towards the end of their exhibition match. Apparently, some idiot opened the penalty box door and Handzus smashed his shoulder against the edge of the plexiglass. DO PICE!
Handzus went back to Philly for an exam, and Flyers� officials will have to decide if Handzus needs surgery, or can play through with some rehab instead. There really isn�t anyone who can replace the physical and defensive presence that Handzus brings to the squad, so I�m hoping the damage isn�t too bad.
Still, perhaps this would be R�bert D�me's big chance? :) :)
(Edit #3: Sounds like Rastislav Pavlikovsky will be the replacement if Handzus bows out... yoikes!)
