Hockey is a big deal on Twitter. All the big news and analysis breaks there first. Puck Tweets is a weekly feature on the best hockey tweeters out there. Be sure to follow all three BHDL writers on Twitter: @blinkfink182, @ChiBlackhawks, and @AndrewBHDL.
Player
@BizNasty2Point0 (Paul Bissonnette, Phoenix Coyotes) - Honestly, if you aren't following Paul Biz Nasty yet, you're truly missing out. I was all ready to put Dan Ellis in here as the first player featured, but you can't beat Biz Nasty. His agent tried shutting him down the first time after he made some harsh comments about Kovalchuk and going "back to the soviet." The second coming of Biz looks even better, featuring tons of pictures of bums and his mom cleaning his underwear. This is the #1 essential follow for all hockey fans.
Blog
@Hockeenight (hockeenight.com) - Run by Fork (because CT is too lame to be on Twitter), hockeenight will make you laugh, cringe, and want to upper decker your neighbor. Make sure you check them out on Tuesday mornings for the puckcast. It might not always be on topic, but I guarantee you'll learn at least one thing about hockey (and the mid-90's Rangers). If you love boner or poop jokes, these are your guys.
Media
@JTBourne (Justin Bourne) - Bourne is a really interesting guy. He started as a minor leaguer, but a couple injuries ended his career early. Since then, he's written for Puck Daddy, the USA Today, The Hockey News, and his own blog. He has some great insight into the life of a player. Some of his best stuff comes in the blog when he just strings together his random thoughts.
Store
@HockeyGiantCom (hockeygiant.com) - Note: this is not a paid advertisement. If you're a hockey player, you owe it to yourself to go check out their site. I found a full set of pads on there for $125. Most people told me I'd be lucky to spend under $300. Go and see for yourself.
Team
@ToledoWalleye (Toledo Walleye) - The Hawks ECHL affiliate tweets game updates and news. Any time you're interested in some of the guys who could make the Hawks in the future, give them a look.
Want to be featured on Puck Tweets as our Fan of the Week? Send us an @reply!
The Ilya Kovalchuk debacle has been going on all damn summer and today the NHL and NHLPA agreed to extend the deadline to make an approval or rejection of the Devils' 15 year/$100 million contract with Kovalchuk until Friday at 5pm EST.
If you follow me on Twitter, you would've seen me go on a bit of a tirade about it with some furious tweeting and retweeting about why this whole dog and pony show is absolutely ridiculous. I decided to put up a post about it to be my wordier (and hopefully clearer) self. Here's why the NHL has screwed the pooch with this situation.
There has been a lot of debate going around the hockey universe in the past 24 hours (most of it before I woke up this afternoon) about bloggers receiving media credentials for NHL games. Its a dicey issue with more angles than I can wrap my head around.
The Big Deal About Credentials
Media credentials have been reserved for journalists since the dawn of time. Creds give writers access to the press box during games and the locker room after the games. They’re able to break news and pick up “insider information.” And professionalism was a big requirement when it came to credentials. However, in the last five years or so blogs have been showing up quicker than drunk teens at the Hawks championship parade. Anyone can start a blog and opine about the latest happenings with their teams. Thanks to platforms like Wordpress and Blogpress, blogs are free and easy to start. Pretty much any fan with an opinion and an internet connection can have a blog. Since there was no professional requirement, blogs were never taken all that seriously by NHL teams.
Flash Forward
Jump ahead to today. Print media is dying. Costs of blogging are very low. Some blogs have established themselves huge followings and plenty of credibility by joining networks like Bloguin or SBNation. All of a sudden, some blogs have been requesting media credentials from NHL teams. But teams have been hesitant, and its tough to blame them. Blogs are such a new medium that its tough for media departments to distinguish between the legitimate writers and the *ahem* basement dwellers, per se. Therefore, most teams have categorically dismissed blogs all together when it comes to credentials. But this is an issue that isn’t so cut and dry for NHL organ-I-zations. With newspapers taking writers off beats and declaring bankruptcy left and right, it is pretty clear that print media journalists will soon be as relevant as Blockbuster or VCR repairmen. The internet is taking over as the new writing medium and blogs are all the rage.
Personal Take
One of the things in the credential conversation that is usually left out is the motives of the people behind the blogs. I’ve talked to plenty of bloggers who are writing as a way to build their resume for their journalistic career. On the other hand, there’s also writers like myself who do it as a hobby. Its the hardcore fan who is writing for fun that the NHL should be worried about credentialing. Aspiring journalists have everything to lose when it comes to media access. Screw up once in the locker room, and say goodbye to any shot you had of landing one of the few remaining media jobs. But hobby bloggers can afford to have their creds revoked. A blogger without credentials can still provide quality coverage. NHL teams need to establish a difference between the hacks and the good guys. They can do that by looking at a couple of things:
Track Record. Every new blog to pop up can’t be given a press pass. Teams should set a minimum requirement for how long a blog has been covering a team, so that the blog can prove their commitment to covering a team seriously.
Network. If a blog is a part of a major blog network, they have someone who can provide legitimacy and hold them accountable if they’re writing garbage or acting unprofessionally.
Transparency. Teams need to know who these writers are and what kind of audience they’re reaching. Sorry anonymous bloggers, but teams need someone to be held accountable. While traffic numbers shouldn’t be the only factor, the numbers are a good indicator of a blog’s legitimacy.
Relationship Building. Until the team and the writer have built a solid working relationship, blogs should have to apply for credentials on a game-by-game basis. This will give teams the opportunity to evaluate the quality of the work that is be produced.
Parting Thoughts
Would I like to get media credentials? Absolutely. But I understand that since this blog is very new and I’m not trying to have a career in writing, that might be difficult. I feel that if I was given the chance to have credentials, I would use the opportunity. I feel like just getting some little bit of insight into locker rooms would allow me to add some quality to my content.
Today the Blackhawks surprised all of us with the signing of Fernando Pisani, formerly of the Edmonton Oilers. The signing was broke by Ryan Rishaug of TSN on twitter. It is a one-way deal (meaning Pisani must go through waivers to be sent to the AHL and still receive his NHL salary) for one year for $500,000.
But What Does It All Mean, Basil?
Nothing really. Pisani had an absolute bombshell 2006 playoffs (14 goals, including a Finals game-winner in overtime while shorthanded, first time that ever happened), almost singlehandedly willing the Oilers into the Stanley Cup finals, but has mostly disappeared since then being regressed to third and fourth line duties with the Oilers.
Since that season, he hasn't surpassed 56 games played in a season due to a litany of injuries, most famously the ulcerative colitis he did a commercial for.
What it seems to me Stan Bowman is doing is getting as many players for as cheap as possible to have as many options as possible for the season. Pisani does a decent job of killing penalties and should see some minutes there.
Beyond that, there isn't too much else to say about it. This is a depth signing, and will push the AHL'ers trying to make the big club to work that much harder. *COUGH*JACKSKILLE*COUGH*
To you, my dear readers, what do you think? Good signing? Shitty signing? (Thanks to @AndrewCieslak for that one) Sound off in the comments.
When I joined the rec league hockey team that my boss played for four years ago, I had no idea that would go from third pair (when we had enough people for three pairs) defensemen and resident thug to #1 center (until recently), leading all-time scorer (for now) and team captain.
Yikes, that sounded boastful. Not intended that way, but I wanted to show where I started and where I'm at now. Skill-wise I don't think I've improved that much, although I recognize I've improved in certain aspects and other aspects are in sore need of improvement (CONDITIONING).
One area I don't think I've ever lacked in for too long - I'm not Jonathan Toews, I've admittedly taken shifts/games off, I feel shame - is on-ice leadership. When I first started, it was more of the Brent Sopel brand of leadership. "Sure I'll block the shot from the guy with the hardest slapshot in the league." Or "sure, I'll be the sixth skater and basically be an unpadded goalie since ours didn't show up." (I stopped 18 of 21 shots and we tied 3-3 that game. Still proud of that.) I tried to take care of the not-so glamorous stuff that usually doesn't get done at rec league levels, but I focused on it since it was a way I could contribute.
I certainly wasn't a vocal leader, whether it was on the ice or off, but if someone asked me for pointers on anything, I helped as much as I could. I had absolutely zero experience playing organized hockey, so I was learning too, but I was picking things up fast.
You probably remember a few weeks ago when we posted pictures from Andrew Ladd's day with the Stanley Cup. Well, we happened upon some more pictures (thanks to @CarryMeLaddy) from Ladd's Cup trip.
I don't know if you've all heard, but the offseason is really slow. We're just dying for any kind of hockey action over here. I have filled a lot of my hockey void with video games this summer, particularly NHL 10 on Xbox 360.
There have been a few other blogs who have run some NHL 10 tournaments through Rivalspot.com and it seems to have gone over pretty well. Pretty much what I want to do is gauge how many people would like to play in an online tournament. It would be completely free and I have a couple Hawks prizes to pick from to send to the winner.
If you're interested, let us know in the comments. We would need to know if you're on Xbox or PS3, when you're available, and you can leave your gamertag if you want.
Andrew can be found playing NHL 10 and MW2 on Xbox Live. His gamertag is FourthFeather. Add him and play him because he needs more friends on there.
Update: We have already hit $35 in donations. I will be sending all future donations to Chicago Blackhawks Charities. Thanks to all the Hawks fans for the positive reactions in the short time this has been posted!
It has ben just over two months since the city of Chicago celebrated their most recent Stanley Cup win. Its no secret that there has been an exodus of players since then, which has made it hard for some fans to properly celebrate.
Fear not, fans. We here at BHDL are here to help you gloat about being champs.
You may be familiar with Hockey-Reference.com. It holds a cornucopia of statistics of every player and team imaginable. On the individual pages, people, websites, and business can sponsor a specific player or team. For example, Patrick Kane's page is sponsored by Heroes In Rehaband has a tagline that says "Don't you know who I am?" That's hilarious.
We wanted to bring you a little chuckle too. What better way to do that than by being jerks about it and rubbing it in a little more? That's why Blackhawks Down Low will be the new sponsor for the 2009-10 Philadelphia Flyers page. Now every time someone wants to learn more about the 2010 Eastern Conference Champs, they'll be reminded who the best team in the NHL was.
Is this a bit of a dick move? Absolutely. But its also funny, so whatever. Maybe if a certain Flyers fan on Twitter didn't get all up on my case this week, I wouldn't be doing this. Oh who am I kidding? Of course I'd still do this.
So here's where you guys come in. I am a broke college student and this was $70. I'm not asking for a bailout or free handout, though. I just want people to meet me half way here. I'm going to raise $35 to pay for the sponsorship and the other $35 will come straight out of my pocket. Anything raised over $35 will be donated to Chicago Blackhawks Charities. Then, once the site generates some advertising revenue, we'll cover the original $35 as well by donating that to Chicago Blackhawks Charities. So if you can, give a dollar or two. I guarantee it will all go to charity.
And if you don't want to contribute to my stupid little joke, just leave a comment on the donation page stating that you want it to go to charity only.
The NHL lockout of the 2004-2005 season tarnished the image of the NHL and the lasting effects of the concessions made in the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) are still felt today. One need look no further than your 2010 Stanley Cup Champion Chicago Blackhawks (*swoon* this will never get old). The Chicago Blackhawks have had to say goodbye via one method or another to the following players: Kris Versteeg, Dustin Byfuglien, Andrew Ladd, Adam Burish, John Madden, Brent Sopel, Ben Eager, Nick Boynton, Colin Fraser and finally -- and most notably -- Antti Niemi. That's ten players from the lineup gone, erased, let go from a championship team.
Comparisons were made early and often to the Florida Marlins of 1997. Literally days after their World Series victory, the dismantling began. Their owner, Wayne Huizenga, claimed huge losses despite the team's championship run (gee, sound familiar?) and promptly dumped their stars for young, cheap talent. This particular comparison is completely misplaced due to the fact that Major League Baseball does not have a hard salary cap (teams can go over the salary cap and pay a 'luxury tax') like the NHL does. The Blackhawks were forced into this mass exodus due to the rules the NHL and NHLPA established in the CBA from the summer of 2005.
The salary cap was implemented mainly as a way to give parity to the league, allowing Bettman's beloved southern market teams smaller market teams an opportunity to be competitive with long-standing franchises that were run with effectively little to no limit on their spending to pay players. But has the salary cap actually served this purpose? One could look at the last ten champions and see two two-time champions (Detroit & New Jersey) and take what they would from it. However, I feel a deeper and broader analysis should be made to make this decision, but how does one base the analysis?
To be honest, I wasn't too sure either. So I just acquired the necessary data and started plugging things together to see if I could see any type of pattern. First, some full disclosure: All salary information was acquired from USA Today and comes with some caveats. Firstly, the dollar amounts are salaries, not cap hits. I felt this was alright because it was the ONLY information I could find regarding team salaries dating back to before the lockout. Secondly, the only salaries included are for players who played at least 30 games or would have played 30 or more games if not for injuries. Again, I felt this was not an issue since the players that wouldn't have played 30 games wouldn't have had significant salaries or cap hits. All other historical team information and statistics (records, strength of schedule, simple rating system) came from HockeyReference.com.
Now all that is out of the way, onto the analysis.
Bloguin is the revolutionary blog network specifically focused on helping bloggers get the most out of their websites. We're currently working on building a large network of online communities and hope to expand our blogging coverage to include a wide range of topics.
Advertisers
The Bloguin Network allows advertisers to promote their products and services to our ever-growing number of visitors. We offer both site-specific ad placements as well as the ability to run a network-wide campaign. If you're interested in working with Bloguin to meet your advertising needs, please contact us.
Bloggers Wanted
The Bloguin Network is always looking to expand. We're specifically looking for blogs in the sports, entertainment, and video games field, but are open to adding any type of quality site. If you're a blogger and interested in joining our network, please fill out our application form.
The Bloguin Login
The Bloguin Login gives you full access to everything our network has to offer. Your name and password will work for each and every one of our sites. Signing up is simple, and will allow you to post in all our forums, create member blogs, and access other cool features! What are you waiting for? Create an Account!
Bloguin is the revolutionary blog network specifically focused on helping bloggers get the most out of their websites. We're currently working on building a large network of online communities and hope to expand our blogging coverage to include a wide range of topics. 
The Bloguin Network allows advertisers to promote their products and services to our ever-growing number of visitors. We offer both site-specific ad placements as well as the ability to run a network-wide campaign. If you're interested in working with Bloguin to meet your advertising needs, please contact us.
The Bloguin Network is always looking to expand. We're specifically looking for blogs in the sports, entertainment, and video games field, but are open to adding any type of quality site. If you're a blogger and interested in joining our network, please fill out our application form.
The Bloguin Login gives you full access to everything our network has to offer. Your name and password will work for each and every one of our sites. Signing up is simple, and will allow you to post in all our forums, create member blogs, and access other cool features! What are you waiting for? Create an Account! 