Around the league – Nov 19, 2009

Watching the Oilers, Flames and Canucks play in places like Long Island, Atlanta, Tampa and Columbus and then seeing the highlights in many other American cities, it is clear that fans aren’t filling buildings. What can the NHL do?

I don’t think the game itself will grab the casual fans attention, so the NHL has to find a way to get in the psyche of the non-hockey fan. They have to use the Internet, YouTube, Facebook and even Twitter to try and expose their league to more people.

Changing the game will only piss off the fans who like the game, so, please Gary and company don’t come up with asinine ideas that will lead to fewer hits, goals or fights. The game isn’t the problem, how the league markets itself is.

There are lots more they could be doing to promote the game that wouldn’t cost them millions.

Make promotional videos about players that are actually funny, and not so stuffy that it makes fans groan. The NFL Network gives fans a true behind-the-scenes look into their favourite team, player and even opposing teams.

The NHL offers nothing close.

Fans want to feel like they know the players, or learn more about them. Some complain that Peyton Manning does too many commercials, and that might be valid, but when he made this appearance on Saturday Night Live, even non-sports fans laughed.

This is classic, especially when we learned that Manning called an audible during this skit. He adlibbed the part where he yelled at the kid to, “shut the door” in the outhouse. The directors were stunned he did it, but loved it.

Once the NHLPA stops their immature infighting, they should call up SNL and suggest getting one of their players on there. Alex Ovechkin would be great, but some quick-witted guys who might be better include Marty Reasoner, Steve Ott, Craig Conroy and Matt Greene to name a few. The problem is those guys aren’t super stars, and normally they want a big-name player.

The NHL needs to market their players better, nationally or locally. They have to get out of their shell and stop being worried that fans might actually see the personalities of some players. The diehard fans aren’t going anywhere, but if hockey wants to attract new fans, they need to do so via the personalities, not the on-ice product.

Now this next example doesn’t showcase any sort of skill, but the dry humour is funny. I wonder how many of Jason Strudwick’s teammates knew he was in a band called The Bubblegum Boys?

His vocals weren’t great, but it probably made you laugh, moan or cringe, or maybe a bit of all three. “We are a fresh look of the music world,”…or… “We’re kind of like a boy band, but not really.” The humour is what makes this funny. The cheesy stach helps, but I’m curious what is with Strudwick’s socks? Laundry day must have been around the corner. When his voice cracked I roared out loud, and I think it is hilarious how they tried to make it seem like a documentary.

None of those guys are household names, and this wouldn’t be a national bit, but if more teams came up with ideas like this to their own fans, I think they’d love it.

Does the Sidney Crosby Tim Horton’s commercial make a non-hockey fan want to find out more about him? Does Jarome Iginla and his Scotiabank commercial make you want to run out and buy tickets to his next game?

Have some fun.

Hockey fans have a sense of humour, and so do the players. Come up with something creative. The Scotiabank commercial, “Is there an issue Pappa” made people laugh. Imagine if the Dad was an NHL player with a cheesy moustache? Might have been funnier, and at the very least better than the lame road hockey one with Iginla.

Some American NHL teams get it and they have better commercials and promos on their websites. It seems the Canadian teams are worried that the fans might actually see another side of their favourite player.

Guys and girls love self-deprecating humour, or watching someone who can laugh at themselves. So why not show that side of NHL players? They are just people after all.

I have no idea why, but this Manning commercial still cracks me up. I can’t stand Manning on the field, but I respect his acting skills.

I appreciate the boys who are calling for an ice woman in every article, but I’m more about quality over quantity. So we will stick with every Thursday in this feature. I’ve seen a lot of Bauer shoulder pads, but I’ve never seen them look that good. How funny is it that she is holding a left-handed stick, but shooting right!

I sat beside former referee, Mick McGeough, during the Oilers/Avs game on Wednesday. McGeough is currently one of the officiating evaluators in the league. He watches and evaluates 14-16 games a month. He was in Calgary Tuesday, Edmonton last night and back in Calgary tonight. And don’t worry fans he is just like everyone else. He questions calls. I didn’t see his report, but there were a few calls he didn’t like, some he thought they missed and others that he thought were bang on. He will be on my show again this week to give more insight into officiating.

I said two weeks ago the only thing that would derail Ryan Smyth’s Olympic bid would be a lengthy injury, and now he is out a month. I still think he showed enough to make it, but if doesn’t return before December 31st when they announce the team he might not make it. And that would be devastating for Captain Canada.

Avs D-man Kyle Cumiskey might be the most underrated skater in the league. I think he is top-five. His acceleration is unbelievable and his lateral movement is very close, if not on par with Jay Bouwmeester.

Another class guy announced his retirement this week, when Brendan Shanahan hung up the blades after 21 years which saw him score 656 goals, 1,354 points and 2,489 PIMS. He is a lock for the Hall of Fame, but he needs to be a face of the league in some capacity. He should be an analyst in the States and in Canada. The league would be better served to have him in that capacity than in management for one club.

Here are the top ten in pts, goals, assists and other stats.

Goals:
Fifteen: Alex Ovechkin and Marian Gaborik
Fourteen: Anze Kopitar (no goals this week) and Dany Heatley
Thirteen: Rick Nash, Patrick Marleau, Corey Perry and Steven Stamkos
Twelve: Dustin Penner, Ryan Malone, Ilya Kovalchuk, Henrik Sedin and Jarome Iginla.

Assists:
Twenty: Joe Thornton and Ryan Getzlaf (five assists again this week)
Nineteen: Tomas Kaberle
Eighteen: Nicklas Backstrom and Kopitar
Seventeen: Mike Green (seven assists this week to get into top five)
Sixteen: Vinny Prospal, Paul Stastny Dan Boyle, Nik Antropov and Brad Richards
*** Getzlaf has only two goals with his 20 assists, while Antropov has no goals.***

Points:
32: Kopitar (leads for 4th straight week)
27: Gaborik
26: Thornton
25: Marleau
24: Ovechkin, Perry, Nash, Zach Parise
23: Penner, Heatley, H. Sedin, Henrik Zetterberg, Ryan Smyth and Rich Peverly
***Rick Nash is the only player in the top twenty who is a minus player, sitting at -7***

Plus/Minus:
+18: Matt Carle (leads for second straight week)
+14: Chris Pronger
+13: Parise
+11: Penner, Nicklas Lidstrom and Alex Goligoski
+10: Mike Knuble, and Travis Zajak
+9: Ovechkin, Ryan O’Reilly, Brent Seabrook, Evander Kane and Christian Ehrhoff.
***The worst +/- goes to Rod Brind’Amour at -17. Martin Havlat is -14, Joe Corvo is -13 while Sergei Samsonovand Robert Nilsson are -12.***

PP Goals:
Seven: Heatley and Gaborik
Six: Stamkos and Scott Hartnell
Five: Kovalchuk, Smyth, Andrew Brunette, Teemu Selanne, Milan Hejduk, Loui Eriksson, Brooks Laich, Rich Peverley and Mike Fisher.

Hits:
82: Ryan Callahan (leads for sixth straight week)
76: Chris Neil
74: Dustin Brown
70: Matt Greene (had 16 hits this week)
68: Cal Clutterbuck
66: Stephane Robidas
65: Scott Nichol
63: Doug Murray
62: Matt Cooke
60: Troy Brouwer

Shots:
87: Ovechkin (leads for seventh straight week, with two weeks not playing)
84: Parise
81: Jeff Carter (16 shots this week)
79: Dustin Brown
76: Sidney Crosby and Zetterberg
75: Nash
74: Michael Cammalleri
71: Penner, Kopitar and Gaborik

I pointed out earlier this year that it pains me that the Oilers and Flames still play Cotton Eyed Joe at their games. Well, the Oilers finally have must have heard the complaints, because thankfully we haven’t heard it for a few games. And it looks like the Oilers might have new dancers to replace the bald guy who used to take his shirt off and dance up and down the aisle to CEJ back in the 90s. Last night two girls came out of their seats and did some hip hop moves to I Know You Want Me, by Pitbull. Welcome to the 21st Century Oiler brass. I’ve only been to one game at GM Place in Vancouver, but I’m guessing CEJ isn’t on their play list. God help you Canuck fans if it is.