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February 21, 2010

Saint John Sea Dogs Miracle On Ice

No the Saint John Sea Dogs did not win Olympic Gold in 1980.  Do you believe in Miracles?

Last night my son and I watched the #1 junior team in Canada, the Saint John Sea Dogs host the Shawinigan Cataractes.  From the drop of the puck you could see the 47-10-1 Sea Dogs did not bring their A game, with giveaway after giveaway.  After trying to make a mends in the third period with a barrage of shots on former Sea Dog goalie Marc-Antoine Gélinas, the Sea Dogs would eventually lose the game 3-1.

But Chris, how does this relate to the Miracle on Ice?  After the game, my son and I were traveling back home in the car and we were listening to the post game wrap up and while going through the game summary, the announcers broke for a moment to announce that the Sea Dogs coach, Gerard Gallant was sending the boys back out on the ice with their gear in.  Sound familiar?

I can hear Gerard saying, "You guys don't want to work during the game, no problem, will work now....Goaline!"


Sounds like Gerard Gallant was taking a page out of former coach great, Herb Brooks' notebook.  Now we all know what happened to Team USA after this coaching move.

Do you think this move will help the Sea Dogs regain their form?  Who knows, but the message Herb Brooks sent to his team was certainly well received.  "Win, lose or tie you play like champions"

Filed under  //   Gerard Gallant   Herb Brooks   Miracle on Ice   QMJHL   Saint John Sea Dogs   Team USA   
Posted by The Hockey Zen 

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January 20, 2010

Patrice Cormier's Messier Like Elbow?

Yes, Patrice Cormier's vicious elbow has been talked about a lot in the last few days.  It's been on TV, radio, twitter, the blogosphere...everywhere.  So why am I writing a post about it?  Well I want to compare Cormier's elbow on Tam's to a few elbows that were delivered by one of the most feared players in hockey history.  But before we get into that, if you haven't seen the hit, here it is.  (WARNING: The footage may be disturbing to some viewers for the graphic nature of the injury. Please know that before watching the clip.)


Here is what some very respected hockey analysts and bloggers have said about the Cormier hit:

SBNation Brandon Worley - The Dirtiest Hit You'll See This Season

Now that we have seen the hit, heard what some respected hockey folks have to say and a few days to digest the incident, I wanted to share with you some elbows that were delivered by Mark Messier during his playing days in the NHL.   Who knows what "The Moose" did in junior. 

Elbow on Mike Modano

Mark Messier elbow on Vladimir Kovin

Mark Messier elbow on Ric Nattress (Video is not great but you see it in the 1988 clip)

Now before I get into the comparisons, first, l am glad to hear Mikael Tam is ok and out of the hospital, because that is what really matters here.  Secondly, I am not condoning elbows here, but what I do think is the culture of hockey is caught in a cross roads.

Back in the day, it was almost cool to be like Messier and deliver elbows to your opponents.  It was part of the fear tactic in hockey.  Now today, with the help of brain research, the hockey world now knows what sort of damage these blows to the head can cause and now society is putting the pressure on them to remove this from the game.  Which it should be.  But to do that, a major culture change has to occur within the dressing room.  

How does this happen? 

Well suspension is one route, which we know Cormier will receive and fairly so.  But one thing I really liked reading in one of the blog post above was what Bob McKenzie brought up, education.  Players today should be educated on what sort of damage these hits cause to their peers.  Let them see real research and examples.  This might help them understand the consequences and hopefully bring a higher respect to the game when they are playing against their peers.

In the end it really has to start with the players and how they are taught to respect opposing players (people) when coming through the ranks.  The game is about competing, battling with integrity and being respectful win or lose.

What do you think?  Is education the next step hockey has to take to eliminate this from the game?  Should the law be brought into these altercations?  I would love to hear your thoughts on this and maybe we can come up with some good answers.

Posted by @cnadeau

Filed under  //   Mark Messier   Mikael Tam   NHL   Patrice Cormier   QMJHL  
Posted by The Hockey Zen 

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