FanHouse Stanley Cup

I love hockey news in the Summer. Instead of breaking down the left wing lock we get to trawl in the nation's gossip pages. And this morning, we get to hang in that wonderful sweet spot where hockey, surfing and the world of popular music collide.

In this morning's edition of the New York Daily News, gossip columnists Rush & Molloy pass along news of how noted Red Wings fan Kid Rock crashed a party at uber-surfer Laird Hamilton's place in Malibu. Apparently, a group of unnamed Detroit Red Wings were at Hamilton's compound with Lord Stanley in tow when ... we'll let the gossip mongers take it from here:

Surfing star Laird Hamilton didn't seem to mind that Kid showed up at Hamilton's Malibu beach house with a retinue of leggy, cleavage-bearing, slightly-past-their-prime party favors. But Hamilton's wife, Olympic volleyball champ Gabrielle Reece, did not appreciate the uninvited guests.

"These ladies were skanky," our spy observes. "Gabrielle didn't say anything but you could tell she was fuming."

So how much credence should we place in this report? Well, Hamilton and Red Wings defenseman Chris Chelios are old friends. Back during the lockout, there was even talk that the two would drop hockey and surfing for a while in an attempt to qualify for the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin representing Greece in the 4-man bobsled.

As for the rest of the Wings, they apparently forgot the Cup on the beach for a while, where the report says some folks mistook it for an ashtray. Given the colorful history of the Cup, color me unconcerned.

Thanks to J.P. for the pointer.

If you're a hockey fan, it might make sense to keep your eyes open on eBay over the next few weeks.

Why do I write that? Because it was only a few days ago that Pete Mahovlich, a 4-time Stanley Cup winner with the Montreal Canadiens in the 1970s and a member of the 1972 Summit Series team that defeated the USSR, had a pair of commemorative rings and a watch stolen from his car while he was playing golf in St. Catherine's, Ontario:

Mahovlich said he had taken off the rings and a watch and put them in one of the car's cupholders.

One of the rings was for the eight-game 1972 series, which Canada won four games to three. One game was tied.

Mahovlich scored a goal in Game 2 of the series. Canada won that game 4-1.

The other ring, given to Mahovlich by the Montreal Canadiens Alumni Association, commemorates his four Stanley Cup wins with the team in 1971, 1973, 1976 and 1977.

The watch that was swiped was originally presented to Mahovlich when he and the rest of the 1972 were inducted into the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame. Though few fans today probably remember his name, Mahovlich scored more than 30 goals in a season four times, and scored over 100 points in a season twice. And if you've ever had a chance to read The Game by Ken Dryden, you'd know that Mahovlich played a very important role on many of those Cup-winning teams that extended far beyond the ice and the locker room.

No, Last Call with Carson Daly isn't Leno, but when you're on the talk show circuit promoting the hardest working professional sports league in North America, you go when you're invited. I'm guessing this was taped earlier in the week so Nick Lidstrom could get back to Toronto in time for last night's NHL Awards Show.

Here's another hidden bonus of having the NHL on NBC: Getting a pair of Red Wings on Jay Leno with the Stanley Cup. It was nice to see that half of Rochester, Michigan was in the audience and that they got a chance to touch the Cup.

Stick Tap: Mirtle.

Meet Katrina Hancock. Aside from having a potentially unfortunate last name (tee-hee!), she is also a reporter for NBC's Detroit affiliate WDIV. Hancock was assigned to cover the Penguins and Wings Stanley Cup Final but at some point she became the interviewee and not the interviewer. KDKA, a Pittsburgh station interviewed her and, well, I don't want to spoil the YouTube. What I will say is that it's a lesson in instantaneous career suicide.



The money quote: "She was the only Detroit journalist to say that Pittsburgh has better fans than Detroit."

Really? The only one? You don't say! I guess the rest of them liked their jobs too much. Seriously, did she want to get fired? If she did, I can commend her for doing it in such a creative way. Otherwise, well, WHAT THE HECK WAS SHE THINKING?

What Hancock said might not have been the best quote of the whole piece, though. The Pittsburgh anchor, Paul Martino, finished his piece by saying "and I had to promise Katrina that we wouldn't be sending that interview back to Detroit." Somehow I imagine it took a Herculean effort on his part to not burst out laughing in the middle of that sentence. You had to figure that he was smart enough to know (unlike Hancock) that even though he wouldn't send it back to Detroit personally, in a digital world things like this do, in fact, get back to Detroit.

Whoops. I guess it is very different when you're on the other side of the microphone.

h/t Awful Announcing and Puck Daddy

It's one of the toughest jobs in all of sports broadcasting. While your colleagues are talking with athletes who are overjoyed at reaching the pinnacle of their sport, you're stuck interviewing one of the guys from the losing team. On NBC during the Stanley Cup Finals, that guy was Bob Neumeier.

Which really just gives me an excuse to play this appropriate tribute.

Aaron Downey played 56 regular season games this past season. He was healthy-scratched 24 times, scored nary a goal all year, and didn't see a single minute of action in the playoffs. None of that matters much, though -- Aaron Downey will get his name etched onto the holiest of sports grails as a member of the Stanley Cup Champion Red Wings.

You see, "[a] player must have at least 41 games played with the club or one game played in the Stanley Cup Finals" to have his name engraved on the ultimate in beer mugs, so Downey fits the bill. But he's no Jiri Slegr (who played eight regular season games and one playoff game -- which happened to come during the Finals -- for the 2002 Cup Champ Wings); Downey may be a Black Ace, but he's been a key contributor throughout Detroit's dream season, including the playoff run.

After all, someone has to drive the forklift, both literally and figuratively.

Every Thursday, Earl Sleek will conspire with his pen and scanner to bring you another installment of PuckToons. Hopefully you will find these amusing, relevant, well-drawn, or you're a person who is tolerant towards mediocrity.

It was quite a finish for this year's Stanley Cup Finals last night, as the Detroit Red Wings ended their dominant season and postseason with a 3-2 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins. I can't help feeling for Penguins goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, though, as his attempt to sit on a loose puck in the third period literally backfired into the net on what would prove to be the cup-winning goal.

It may take Penguins fans a while for the sting of that goal to wear off, especially if opposing fans start using the phrase "pulling a Fleury" to describe self-inflicted wounds. Still, at least it isn't exactly an unprecedented embarrassment – if you recall, last year's cup-winning goal occurred when an unpressured Ottawa Senators defenseman Chris Phillips put the puck past his teammate Ray Emery in the second period of Game Five.

Overall, Fleury had a tremendous postseason and shouldn't let this one blunder tarnish his reputation. Still, if he's as lucky as Phillips, someone else will score next year's cup-winning goal into their own net and help hockey fans move past Fleury's rubber-pants play.

After 1,316 games, regular and postseason, the NHL's 2007-08 campaign came to a close last night in Pittsburgh when the Red Wings carried away their 11th Stanley Cup.

To wrap things up in style, please join myself and FanHouse's all-star cast of bloggers and analysts as we take a final look at the finals, last night's Game 6 and the year that was.

The chat gets underway at 1 p.m. ET.

Topics for discussion:

• Does four Cups in 11 years constitute a dynasty in today's NHL?
• How likely is it that the Red Wings repeat?
• How should the Penguins prepare for next season?
• What They're Saying: The Morning After
• Hockeytown is Titletown
• And a look toward free agency, next week's NHL awards and the 2008 entry draft

Hope to see you there.

Long before I started my side career as a hockey blogger, I spent a number of years as a corporate speech writer. Over the course of that time I had the distinct challenge of writing a commencement speech for one of my clients. And when it comes to commencement, there are really only two commandments for an invited speaker: Be brief and be gone.

While you might be thrilled to have been invited, the day isn't about you, it's about the graduates and their families. So be nice, make sure everyone thanks Mom and Dad for all their support, and get out of there.

Safe to say, this is a lesson that's been completely absorbed by NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman. One can hardly blame him. After enduing relentless booing whenever he shows up anywhere in public in an official capacity, it seems as if a new technique has emerged to short-circuit hostile crowds.

Witness last night in the aftermath of the Cup Finals when Bettman emerged to award the Conn Smythe Trophy and the Stanley Cup. Listen closely to the Mellon Arena public address announcer as Bettman walks onto the ice.