Yet another “mainstream media” guy decides to rag on the NHL. So what else is new, other than the “No Olympic bounce!” bonus this season?

This time around, it’s Mike Freeman of CBSsports.com who is providing us such gems as:

I’m not certain how it happened and don’t know if it was possible for the NHL to stop it from happening but that once-captured post-Olympic hockey glow is now gone. It has dissipated into the ozone and the NHL is back to being ignored by most sports fans.

For the rest of his rant, mostly about how the NHL needs more scoring and is less popular than SpongBob SquarePants, here you go: NHL toils in anonymity

Anyway, my own reaction to this isn’t umbrage that the dedicated sports fans of the United States are stupidly missing out on something great, or that the mainstream media are disrespecting the greatest sport on earth. My reaction? Let them miss out. Please. And mainstream media? You too. Go stalk Tiger Woods or cover the NFL draft like it’s Armaggedon.

Hockey doesn’t need validation from the casual sports fan. It doesn’t need explosive growth. It doesn’t need 24/7 coverage on ESPN (don’t bother them – they’re busy lining up another interview with Pacman Jones).

And as hockey fans, we don’t need to have our sport endorsed by ignoramuses who think a 10-9 game would be more entertaining than a 2-1 game.

And if mass popularity is the measuring stick of success, then shouldn’t “The Dukes of Hazzard” be held up as a shining example of great television?

I cherish my fandom of a “niche” sport, and you should too. The “average” American sports fan is drinking rotgut, while we’re quaffing (and discussing the quality of) the finest wines the world has to offer.

But mum’s the word, OK? Let’s keep this to ourselves.

Once again, the Goddesses gazed into their crystal balls and here is what they see for week two in the men’s Olympic tournament. Note: None of the goddesses consulted with the other, and this was posted before the Canada-Russia game.

Goddess Amy

• Best uniforms: Sweden… classic and classy
• Best sighting from another league: Double J — Jaromir Jagr — from watching him play and some of the interviews, he’s grown up a lot I think.
• Biggest surprise: Probably Norway. They just about pulled it out last night and looked really good.
• Best non-NHL player: Tore Vikingstad from Norway. Boy has some skills.
• Ugliest player *: I don’t know … ugly is in the eye of the beholder. But if I had to pick one, maybe Andrei Markov or a couple of the Belarusian guys.
• Prettiest player *: Probably Toby Enstrom of Sweden.
• Most unusual name: Tore Vikingstad… it’s perfect for a Norwegian.
• Best goalie mask: I really like Ryan Miller’s mask a lot.
• Worst/lamest goalie mask: I can’t think of one. They are all pretty great.

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Goddess Kaat

• Best uniforms: USA: I’m a homer, but you can’t beat the red, white and blue throwback-kinda jerseys they wore in their win against Canada. A bit of a nod to the 1980 Miracle on Ice team. Classic. I like them even if they do look a bit like the New York Rangers out there. Honorable mention to the Czech Republic with their old school coat of arms on the front. I just dig them.
• Best sighting from another league: Richard Zednik. He’s always been one of my favorite players. As regular readers may know, I have a strange array of favorite players and he is one of them. So great to see him playing and playing well — especially after the horrible skate to the neck. Honorable mention: Jaromir Jagr. The NHL lost a character when he defected to the KHL.
• Biggest surprise: That either Canada or Russia will go home sans medal. And how awesome Jeremy Roenick has been as a color commentator for NBC. As the old McDonald’s slogan goes: “I’m lovin’ it.”
  
• Best non-NHL player: Jaromir Jagr. As much as I want to say Richard Zednik. It’s Jags.
• Ugliest player *: Phil Kessel. He’s played like crap so far. Has he even been on the ice?
• Prettiest player *: Ryan Miller, baby. He’s been incredible.
• Most unusual name: Janis Sprukts. I was fascinated by this last name when I saw him play in the KHL. It still gives me a mixture of intrigue and giggles. And it looks awesome in Cyrillic. To wit: “Спруктс.”
• Best goalie mask: Henrik Lundqvist always has cool masks. I am digging his Tre Kronor/Lady Liberty mask. Kind of the duel personality — Sweden’s crowns and a symbol of the U.S. on the other.
• Worst/lamest goalie mask: I know not everyone can afford to get a new mask just for the Olympics — or can they? They probably can, but are too superstitious or something. But I think Miikka Kiprusoff is lame for wearing his regular season mask. And, under normal circumstances, I love that mask of his — with the bad ass flaming skulls and all. It’s awesome, but I’d like to see something new for the Olympics. Show a little flare, Miikka baby.

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Goddess Savvy

• Best uniforms: Germany. The Germans always have great uniforms, no matter what the sport.
• Best sighting from another league: Rosie — Vladimir Ruzicka — coaching the Czech Republic! :-)
• Biggest surprise: Besides the obvious? U.S. upsetting Canada and Canada needing a shootout to beat Switzerland?
• Best non-NHL player: n/a
• Ugliest player *: Tomas Plekanec. He’s always the ugliest player, and that goes both ways.
• Prettiest player *: David Krejci. He’s getting lots of well-deserved recognition from NBC’s announcers.
• Most unusual name: Is there any better name for a Norwegian hockey player than Vikingstad? Did he make that up?
• Best goalie mask: Tomas Vokoun. I like the Czech coat of arms. (Props to Miller, though, for including a shamrock on his mask as a tribute to Jim Craig.)
• Worst/lamest goalie mask: Thomas Greiss. He’s using his Sharks mask. Fail.

* Note: Prettiest/ugliest player was open to interpretation. It could have meant looks, style or play, however the goddess chose to interpret that question.

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Bold Predictions

	Canada or Russia?	Difference Maker?
Amy	Canada	Jarome Iginla
Kaatiya	Russia	Evgeni Nabokov
Sasha	Canada	Scott Neidermayer
Savvy	Russia	Alex Ovechkin

The Hockey Goddesses have thrown their hats into the ring, dropped the gloves, gone mano-a-mano … er, well, something like that, to bring you our Olympic Men’s Ice Hockey predictions. (We’d have done women’s hockey too, but were a little late in starting and they’ve already played too many games — given us a bit too much of a preview.)

So, herewith, and without consulting one another are our picks — a few bold ones in there. We’ve also picked our tournament MVP and a players we expect to surprise you — maybe for good or bad. Amy selected two possible MVPs — we’ll let her get away with that, but just this once. She also selected a second set of winners — BEEP — not gonna happen. You gotta go with your gut. So for the purposes of this table, it’s first instincts. For the record, Goddess Amy said her table would look different if the goalies wigged and stunk. For the purposes of our exercise, we are assuming everyone is firing on all cylinders. Maybe we’ll do the all-oops team picks tomorrow. Ha ha!

Anyway, let’s see who comes closest … and see if you agree with our picks. If not, tell us why.

	Gold	Silver	Bronze	MVP	Surprise
Amy	Russia	Canada	Sweden	Jarome Iginla or Alex Ovechkin	Bobby Ryan
Kaat	Canada	Russia	U.S.A.	Canadian fans	Ryan Miller
Sasha	Sweden	Canada	Russia	Peter Forsberg	Loui Eriksson
Savvy	Russia	Canada	Czech	Evgeni Nabakov	David Krejci
** It should be noted all picks were in before the men’s tournament began.
** Kaat selected the people of Canada as MVPs. Not only being a proud kid of a Canadian mom, but also she thinks they will push the Canadian team past the Red Machine. Selecting a player, she’d go with Sidney Crosby. How Cliché !

Hey folks! New goddess here. ;-) Since I’m the resident Bruins “expert,” and we’re entering the Olympic break, I thought I’d begin with a post about what some have called the surprise member of the Canadian Olympic team, Boston center Patrice Bergeron.

Patrice’s selection was probably only a surprise to those who haven’t followed his career. He’s not a flashy stats guy. He’s not a monster checker. He is, however, one of the most well-rounded, versatile, intelligent players in the NHL. He plays on the PK and on the power play. He’s excellent in the faceoff circle. He’s the guy you want on the ice when you’ve got the goalie pulled and are trying to tie the game, or if you’ve got a one-goal lead you’re trying desperately to protect.

Patrice was picked 45th overall in the 2003 draft  and made the Bruins at age 18. He won a gold medal with the Canadian senior men’s team in 2004, and a gold medal with the juniors in 2005, the first player in history to have accomplished that feat. He skated on a line with Sidney Crosby at the junior tournament (and was named the tournament MVP), and speculation is that he’ll do the same in Vancouver.

Unfortunately Patrice’s biggest claim to fame is the horrific concussion he suffered in October 2007, when he was hit from behind by Philadelphia’s Randy Jones. What not many people outside of New England seem to realize is that Patrice came periously close to dying that day. His doctor said that any normal human being (and many hockey players) would have suffered a broken neck from that hit, but thankfully Patrice’s astounding level of fitness and strength spared him. 

Even so, the hit was devastating. Patrice missed the rest of the season with a Grade III concussion.  Many fans and media declared he’d never make it back, but not this fan. If there’s one thing that surpasses Patrice’s physical strength, it’s his heart and will. That’s what makes him a special hockey player (and a special human being), and I knew he’d be  back with a vengeance. 

After a long, difficult recovery (knocked off the rails a bit when he suffered another concussion in December), Patrice was back to normal by the time last spring’s playoffs rolled around, as Josh Gorges discovered:

Josh Gorges vs. Patrice Bergeron

That was the first fight of Patrice’s career, and as usual, he got it right the first time.

However, that’s not what makes Patrice Bergeron a superb hockey player. What makes him great is his vision, his hockey sense, his passing ability, and strength on his skates. Watch his move on Mike Richards:

Winter Classic goal

Even better, Patrice steals the puck from Maxim Lapierre and feeds Mark Recchi:

Recchi scores in OT

Two things to love about this goal: The strength and balance Patrice shows in taking the puck away, and the absolutely wonderful feed to Recchi. Patrice never looks at Recchi; he appears to be thinking shot all the way, then dishes off and hits Recchi’s blade perfectly.

That’s why Patrice Bergeron was the only player not invited to Canada’s summer tryout camp to be named to the Olympic roster. Despite the naysayers, I have no doubt he’ll be a key part of  Canada’s success.

Besides, it doesn’t hurt to have a pretty team, right?

Some additional notes on Patrice Bergeron:

 - When he was very little and just starting to skate, his parents signed him up for hockey lessons. On the first day, he sat down inside the net and watched. The coach asked him if he wanted to join in, and he said, “No, I’m good.” This went on for several sessions until one day he proclaimed himself ready and played. His mother, upon telling the story, said it was typical of Patrice. “He watches and studies and when he’s ready, he’s ready.”

- Bergeron is his mother’s maiden name. His father’s name is Cleary. After his fight against Gorges, teammate Shawn Thornton dubbed him “Patrick Cleary” and still refers to him by that name, especially when Patrice gets fiesty.

- Patrice is one of Boston’s busiest athletes when it comes to charity work. Among his many projects, he owns a suite at the Garden in which children from area hospitals or community groups are invited, and he meets with them after games.

- Patrice has been an alternate captain since his second year with the Bruins, and most Bruins fans have no doubt he’ll inherit the “C” when Zdeno Chara retires (the other “A” is rotated amongst the Bruins veterans).

Though I’m an American, I’ll actually be rooting for Canada in the Olympics, for one reason only: Patrice Bergeron. He makes me proud to be a Bruins fan.

Until next time!

I got the most recent edition of The Hockey News today and lately I’ve been so pissed off at that publication. The glee that many of their writers (and readers) seem to take at the prospect of plucking the Thrashers out of Atlanta just gets to me. People who have never even been south of, say, Washington, D.C. commenting on what Southern people will or won’t do. Or what Southern people are like.

I know Atlanta and I know that the people of that town — and most towns (duh!) — love to watch good teams. But more than that, people in Atlanta love a good time. When the Thrashers were competitive — the year they just missed the playoffs and then the year they did get in — there were really good crowds and lots of local celebrities at games. People in the ATL love a good show and will turn out for whatever happens to be going on that is good. If the stupid Thrashers owners would solve their stupid dispute and concentrate on putting a good team on the ice, attendance would not be an issue. I know many people in Canada like to think that all of the people in “the South” are dumb hicks that don’t know about hockey. Not true. Or that all we care about is NASCAR. That’s crap.

Funny that the Penguins struggled in the attendance department when their team stunk. The Chicago Blackhawks couldn’t fill their building. Why would you expect hockey fans in Atlanta to be any different than the people in those cities? The Colorado Avalanche have been losing and guess what? Attendance has fallen off — as Goddess Sasha, a season ticket holder, can attest. Why are Southern hockey fans always raked over the coals and derided when they don’t go watch a crappy team play? Yet people in Chicago didn’t go for years and nobody was saying: “hey let’s move the team.” Why is that? Oh yes, it is because in the South it doesn’t snow and, therefore, people didn’t grow up playing the game and THEREFORE, shouldn’t be allowed to learn the game now or have a pro hockey team there.

The solution to the issues in Atlanta is simple: Ice a good team. (And maybe fire Don Waddell — there is a large group of former season ticket holders who would be season ticket holders again if he were gone.)

All that being said, I was delighted with The Hockey News today. I was half-heartedly flipping through it when I stumbled on their picks or suggestions for the 2010 Olympic teams. For the Russian team, THN writers suggested Slava Kozlov would be a wonderful addition. I was so amazed that somebody finally recognized the oft-forgotten Kozlov that I squealed with glee and demanded my husband come look at the article and the accompanying list of suggested players.

I seriously doubt Kozlov will be selected. He seems to be either out of favor with Russian hockey higher-ups or rejects their offers or is passed over in favor of bigger, flashier players (Fedorov anyone?). I don’t know. But I appreciated THN appreciating Mr. Kozlov.