Pee-Wee Be Gone

My youngest son is 11 years old and has decided to leave the world of travelling hockey. Hold on a second, let me go get that box of kleenix. Ok, much better. Like I wrote, competitive hockey is over (at least for a year) in our household.

Hockey for him started at the age of 6 when he could barely skate. He learned quickly and became a fan of the game. Near the end of a long first season (October to March), he had decided that he didn't like it too much and we decided to take a year off and just skate for fun outdoors.

After a year off he decided to take another run at it, this time as an 8 year old. He skated as a Mite and had a blast. His teammates were friends, the competition wasn't intense and he loved the small-sided games. I thought he was hooked.

He came back the next season as a first year squirt and again had fun, but didn't care for the 3-4 nights a week his schedule entailed. He did, however, enjoy the out of town tournaments and staying in hotels in such exotic locales as Baldwin, Wisconsin and Owatonna, Minnesota. Actually Owatonna is a good hockey town with a tremendous arena...check it out sometime. Hockey had won him over again, partially, and he was willing to give Squirts a second year.

Last year to help sell him on the game I decided to help coach. While I had a blast, he was still luke-warm on the game and all of the practices. We made it through the year ok...not too many early start times, but by February he had had enough. "I don't think I like this anymore, Dad" he said, and I think it wasn't due to my poor coaching. I told him that we'd re-evaluate come August and here we are.

He'd be a first year pee-wee this fall if he'd play, but now he's not so sure. "I like to play, I just don't want to play (so often)." Ok, this is good; he still likes the game, just in smaller doses. My hope is that there does exist recreational hockey for kids his age who don't want the 3-4 night requirement. I think he'd be happy with 1-2 nights, so hopefully we'll find something. If I can't find something I may have to get him a fake ID and sign him up for some bar-league hockey. :)

My brief coaching career is over, though, so I'll have to start yelling at TV hockey once again. After all, I think I learned enough last season to qualify me to do that.

Mustering Hatred for Winny

How does one generate hate towards a city and its hockey team when there is no history in place? It's very easy (almost too easy) to hold bad feelings towards the Vancouver Canucks. From their roster to their overrated city, I have no problems whatsoever feeling good about whenever the hockey team stumbles. It also takes me little effort mustering up hatred towards another Wild rival, the Calgary Flames. From that smug Jarome Iginila to the ugliest arena in North America, it's a no-brainer for me to dislike that franchise.

Now I have a problem...a new team has appeared just north of me across the border, the Winnipeg Jets FKA Atlanta Thrashers. By all accounts the people of Winnipeg are good people who, like Minnesotans, suffered the loss of their hockey team and were able to get one back. It sounds like a nice little city and I'm happy they're back in the NHL.

But having said that I cannot allow myself to be pleasant. Atlanta's former team is a bunch of underachieving pretenders who will not succeed in the Western Conference when they get moved. I don't like their new logo, their old logo and I can't remember half the time the correct spelling for Winnipeg. Is it Winnipeg, Winnepig, Wennipig, Winnepig or Winnipig? Whatever the spelling, I'll look forward to the future victories the Wild will enjoy there.

Koivu with Talent? Ridiculous.

Minnesota Wild Captain Mikko Koivu has never played on a line with any sort of goal-scoring talent, yet he has averaged around 60 points a season over his entire career. Over that six season span he has played with such scoring savants(*) as Antti Miettinen, Stephane Veilleux, Eric Belanger and Andrew Brunette. Ok, Brunette was a good player, but most of his former linemates were stiffs.

Fast-forward to this upcoming season. Most Wild experts project the Wild's first line to be comprised a combination of Koivu, Dany Heatley, Pierre-Marc and Devin Setoguchi. I don't think I'm going out on too skinny a limb here by putting the over/under on 2011-12 Koivu points at 80. He'll score somewhere around 30 and assist near 50. Another All-Star Game appearance, a Selke nomination and maybe even a Finlandia Vodka sponsorship are all in this future.

And don't even get me started on 2012-13 when the Finnish Mario comes over.

(*) I still haven't been able to locate the Sarcasm font.

One to Go

What do you do when your dream comes true? This is a question that's been asked in the past by Boston Red Sox fans after the 2004 World Series, New Orleans Saints fans in 2009 and many other long-suffering franchises. I can say without any conviction that I felt the same way this past April when the UMD Bulldogs won the NCAA hockey championship.


Growing up in Duluth, Minnesota I had four main goals that I wanted to witness during my lifetime: (1) a Bulldog hockey championship (2) a Twins championship (3) father two healthy children and (4) see the Minnesota North Stars hoist the Stanley Cup.


The Twins were able to check their item off my list in 1987 and then again in 1991. My wife gave birth to two healthy boys in 1995 and 1999, so that one was also fulfilled. And this year the Bulldogs gave me a 75% completion rate.


I know I'll never see the North Stars raise the Cup, and no I didn't take any comfort when the Stars beat the Sabres in 1999. The North Stars died for me when they left and nothing could bring them back. So, I've formally amended my last goal to "see a Minnesota hockey team hoist the Cup" And while I don't think this will happen this season or next, it is possible within 3-4 years.

Sounds of the Season

I can almost hear worthless FSN play-by-play voice Dan Terhaar saying after a Wild goal "They're not booing, they're saying Seto-GOOOOO-chi."

Just Be Yourself

Recently I’ve heard a lot of talk about this being the season the National Hockey League can capture many more sports fans because of the NBA lockout. How the NHL can seize this great opportunity and make itself attractive to the American sports fan and show them how great hockey truly is. To this I say hogwash. Stop trying to cater to people who don’t follow the sport and concentrate on pleasing the existing fan base.

For years Bettman and Company have tried to expand the game and make it more popular. Move franchises south. The glow puck. Shootouts. The list goes on and on. The NHL needs to stop trying so hard to be one of the “Big 4” sports leagues and just accept (and embrace) the following facts:

1. The NHL has the most loyal and rabid fan base of any North American sport.

2. People who don’t like hockey will never watch it on a regular basis.

3. No one wants to hear Muses’ “The Uprising” during stoppages anymore.

Once these are accepted it’s time to focus on how to make the game better, not make it more popular. Being the most popular certainly didn’t work out for multiple Heathers in the 1988 cult comedy and it isn’t a good idea now. Make the game better, not bigger.