FanHouse Devils

As I'm sure all of you are aware, this is Hockey Weekend Across America. (Did you remember to wear your favorite jersey to school on Friday?) Here at FanHouse, we were going to commemorate the occasion by celebrating the 15 years the U.S. has successfully kept Lord Stanley's chalice out of the syrup-covered hands of our neighbours to the nord, but we figured some members of the team might object to such blatant jingoism. Much more agreeable: A celebration of blood, fists and fury.

One look at the indispensable HockeyFights.com list of U.S.-born pugilists leaves one feeling ... yeah, I think "underwhelmed" might be the word. All due respect to Chris Tamer and Jim Cummins, there aren't enough "punchers" and more than a few "speed bags." But here they are, in completely debatable order and with little regard for anything that occurred more than 30 years ago: The Top 10 U.S.-Born Fighters in NHL History...

10. Derian Hatcher (Born: Jun 4, 1972 - Sterling Heights, Michigan): He was able to use his size (6-5, 235) and strength in a fight, unleashing some real bombs in a brawl. Check out this tussle with Darren Langdon of the Rangers to see how he handled a fellow heavyweight. Is he a cheap-shot artist? Sure. Did he pick on undersized and weaker opponents? Absolutely ... but is there anything more American than that?

Phoenix associate coach Ulf Samuelsson is one of only three Europeans currently coaching in the NHL, along with Ulf Dahlen of Dallas and New Jersey's Tommy Albelin. Jarmo Kekalainen, the assistant general manager of the St. Louis Blues, is the only European member of a front office in the NHL. This is the evidence presented by Tom Reed of The Columbus Dispatch, who explores the lack of Europeans behind both hockey benches and front office desks; and he finds that current and former non-North American players don't believe this is a case of institutional xenophobia from the League's good 'ole boys club. They see other challenges:

Kekalainen dreams of becoming the first European NHL general manager, but he and his wife want their two young daughters to be exposed to Finnish culture. "You have to ask yourself if you really want to make that commitment to live full time in North America," said Kekalainen, who played briefly in the NHL and earned a management degree from Clarkson University in Potsdam, N.Y.

Another issue is communication, Dahlen said. Coaches must be able to speak English well enough to get their point across to players, the media and the public.

Every day from Monday to Saturday, The Ice Sheet will take a look at the biggest stories in the league that happened on the ice and elsewhere the night before.

I have to imagine life for a Nashville Predators fan can be correctly described as surreal at times. Coming within an inch of Jim Balsillie's ego from moving to Hamilton, and remaining in the relocation whispers of naysayers even as new ownership takes hold. The "here today, gone 22 games later" of Peter Forsberg. Those third jerseys (yikes). So when the team beats an opponent called the Hurricanes, and fans have to then remain in the arena while deadly tornadoes blow by Nashville, I suppose it's just in keeping with the Predatory weirdness.

But it even gets more surreal: This Nashville team, despite all the adversity, is four points away from the four seed in the Western Conference after its national television Versus victory over Carolina last night. And the three reasons why the Preds were finally able to put one past a red-hot Cam Ward in the 1-0 victory just happen to also be the best line in hockey right now: JP Dumont, Jason Arnott and Alexander Radulov.

(Coming Up Next: Last Night's Losers, The Leafs Hit Rock Bottom, Why The Southeast Division Doesn't Deserve a Playoff Spot, Devils Fans Dating Rangers Fans Are Fan-tastic, Tonight's Must-See Games and Pimping Out Ovechkin's Garage.)

When it comes to awards, the NHL basically has things covered. Nothing your friendly neighborhood FanHouse puckheads might develop could possibly rival the historic significance of the Lady Byng Trophy or the functionality of the William M. Jennings Trophy, which doubles as a delightful chili con queso bowl. But we can try, dammit. Here's four of the eight categories in our lusty gaze at 2007 in the review mirror (sans Mirtle, who decided to check out on life to concentrate on the true meaning of Boxing Day this holiday season.)

NHL Man of the Year

JP: Brian Burke. Wins a Cup, lets MacT overpay for Penner (while adding some great drama to the whole situation), only has to pay for half a year of Niedermayer but still finds himself just a stone's throw from first place in the division (granted, that's 8th place in the Conference). You may not like the way the game behind the game is played, but Burke sure is playing it. Oh, and he secured Edmonton's first pick in the upcoming draft as part of the Penner compensation, and that could very well be the #1 overall pick (i.e. Stamkos).

Earl Sleek: I'd guess Crosby is the man, but I could see a case for Pronger (has anyone been robbed of two Conn Smythes in a row?) or even Sammy Pahlsson -- that guy killed this year, though in a very non-celebratory way.

Kevin Schultz: After some dirty hits in the playoffs, I can't see Pronger getting MOTY.

Every day from Monday to Saturday, The Ice Sheet will take a look at the biggest stories in the league that happened on the ice and elsewhere the night before.

The needle on the Vancouver hype machine was in the red yesterday as Todd Bertuzzi made his long-awaited return as an opponent after 18 months. The TEAM 1040 in Vancouver even cut away from "The Jim Rome Show" in favor of audio from Bertuzzi's Tuesday morning press conference, no doubt depriving listeners of dozens of recycled O.J. jokes and humorless "takes" from callers who live-read from scripts written on well-soiled cocktail napkins.

Bertuzzi left the Canucks in what Jacques Martin believes is still the worst trade in the history of hockey, and was injured when Detroit and Florida came to Vancouver to play last season. But he hit the ice last night with Anaheim, receiving cheers from an appreciative GM Place crowd filled with fans dressed in their old Bertuzzi jerseys. And what a return it was, as ... ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ ... oh, sorry, nodded off there for a moment thinking about the anti-climax that was Bertuzzi's homecoming. The Ducks lose 4-0, and Bert goes 0-0-0 with no shots and a minus-2 in just under 13 minutes of ice time.

But all of that is secondary to the real news yesterday, which is that Ducks GM Brian Burke will evidently go to his grave defending Bertuzzi's assault on Steve Moore. "I know Todd Bertuzzi is a character person, who thought he was going to the aid of a teammate," Burke said yesterday. "As I said at the time, sitting right here, right beside him, I cannot condone what happened that night, but I think what Todd meant to do was well intentioned." Yikes...

(Coming Up Next: Last Night's Losers, Scandalous and Hilarious Puck Headlines, The End of Goal Judges, Most Embarrassing Stat Line of the Night, Satan's 666, Games You Need To Watch Tonight and Either The Most Endearing or Annoying Hockey Video of the Day.)

It appears that the Detroit Red Wings aren't the only successful NHL club having problems filling their home domes to capacity during playoffs games.

One of the NHLs more swept-under-the-rug black marks is the fact that the New Jersey Devils, thrice Stanley Cup champions in the past decade+, can't sell out their home games on a regular basis.

Kind of like the Atlanta Braves of hockey, right? How can a team that is so successful not sell out playoff home games? Remember, this was the team that held a Stanley Cup 'parade' in a freakin' parking lot.

The Devils played their first three home playoff games before a total of nearly 6,300 empty seats, but goaltender Martin Brodeur could have sworn Continental Arena was packed to the rafters.

"I think the towels made it," Brodeur said with a smile Tuesday, referring to the white towels given to fans to spin over their heads in the playoffs. "It fills up the empty seats."

Bad location in the middle of a swamp? High ticket prices? Cruddy arena? I've heard those excuses before, and it just doesn't wash. The population of the area is quite high, and yet they can't fill one little arena for an NHL playoff tilt?
While the Devils have been a prime example of how to achieve success on the ice, they certainly don't pack the stands. The Devils finished 26th(!) in league attendance this year with an average of 14,176 per game. The year before? They were also 26th!

I guess it's not too shocking, then, that the Devils can't sell out their playoff games. There doesn't seem to be a very good casual fan base in the area, as most of the fans who do attend seem to be of the hardcore variety.