FanHouse Rocky Wirtz

Scotty Bowman has declined and spurned many advances from the likes of the Toronto Maple Leafs and other NHL clubs to be a coach, adviser or mentor for their organizations. Why should Bowman, who already has plenty of Stanley Cup Rings, the most wins by an NHL coach, and lots of money in the bank, need to come out of semi-retirement and leave a perfectly cozy job with the Red Wings?

As rumored last month, the Chicago Blackhawks were the latest team to offer a position to Bowman. Whatever straw the Hawks threw in front of Bowman finally broke the camel's back, because the legendary coach is now joining the Chicago Blackhawks front offices in an advisory role: Senior Adviser, Hockey Operations.


I wonder what the Hawks offered that made Bowman finally change his mind. Was Bowman bored of winning all the time with the Wings? Was his role so small (think Gordie Howe's days as a pencil pusher) that he felt unappreciated?

One obvious factor is that Scotty wants to join his son, Stan, who is an Assistant GM within the hockey operations department of the Hawks. Reverse Nepotism, eh?

The Hawks are already a team on a rapid rise to success, and adding Bowman to the club will only help them make the transition from pretender to contender.

Score another one for Rocky Wirtz!

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.

It's been a rather frustrating year for Sidney Crosby as he's fought an ankle injury and watched as Evgeni Malkin and Alexander Ovechkin steal his spotlight. With just six points in six March games, Crosby wasn't much of a factor as the Penguins battled the likes of the New Jersey Devils and New York Rangers to Atlantic Division supremacy.

Last night, Sidney finally put his stamp back on the team with a two-goal performance in the Penguins 4-2 win over the Flyers. With the win, the Pens win the division for the first time since 1998, and can finish no lower than second place in the Eastern Conference.

"We ended up losing Crosby (for 28 games) and Marc-Andre Fleury (for three months) and so many other guys during the course of the season, and we were just trying to focus and maintain our position to make the playoffs," coach Michel Therrien said. "The guys surprised me with their commitment."

Another interesting note: The Penguins sold out all 41 home games for the first time in their 41 year history. Given the team's past attendance problems, this is just more icing on the cake for the revived antarctic dwellers. Still, I find it amazing that they never sold out a season back when Mario Lemieux and the Pens were winning Stanley Cups. What the hell?

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.

If you had to build a franchise around one of the league's young players, and it couldn't be either Sidney Crosby or Alexander Ovechkin, you would probably go with Calgary defenseman Dion Phaneuf. Rarely does a club get the chance to utilize a defenseman that is the complete package of size, toughness, grit, strength, shooting power, and offensive acumen.

Therefore, you can be sure the Flames knew they had something special in their modern day Scott Stevens-like stalwart, and they were going to do everything in their power to keep the boy around.

How about a big nice contract extension for six years at about $6.5 million per season? Yeah, that ought to do it.

I'm excited about the prospect of playing another six years in Calgary," said Phaneuf. "In fact, I never thought I would be playing anywhere else. I am proud to be a member of this organization and will continue to concentrate on the job at hand - making and advancing in the playoffs this year and for years to come."

Maybe, just this once, we'll see a smile from the guy with the perma-sourpuss on his face?

In today's visual media age, it seems utterly insane that a major sports franchise would not want to have their team's games televised. Getting eyeballs to view the product is key to opening their minds to the wonders of advertising, product placement, and brand loyalty.

Well, as we all know, it has been the long-running joke that the Chicago Blackhawks, under the late Bill Wirtz, refused to televise their home games, expecting that more people would show and shell out $100 for a ticket if they couldn't watch it for free at home.

Well, after a string of incredibly bad seasons, trades, and drafts, Hawks fans just plain stayed away, regardless of whether the games were on TV or not. A whole generation of potential hockey fans was basically sacrificed for Wirtz's bottom line, with most existing Hawks fans seemingly of the older variety. Playing in one of the world's best markets for sports certainly doesn't guarantee success, and the Hawks may be paying for their short-sightedness for many years to come.

Now, The question we all had when Dollar Bill kicked the bucket: Will the Hawks finally join the rest of us in the 21st century and put some games on TV?

The answer: A resounding YES!

In his first major move with the Blackhawks, Rocky Wirtz is trying to do what fans long have asked for: televise the team's home games.

In a Monday memo, Wirtz told employees that Blackhawks representatives met with Comcast SportsNet executives last week about getting some home games on the air during the current season.

A source within Wirtz Corp. says up to a half-dozen home games may be broadcast this season, the majority of them coming by the end of this year. The first game most likely will be Nov. 11 against the Detroit Red Wings.

Wirtz also said the team is working on a "long-term strategy" for televising more home games in future seasons.

A half-dozen isn't much, but it is certainly a good start, especially given how this is essentially a last-second deal. The NHL badly needs Chicago to be a successful market, and giving the fans easier access to the product is an easy first step in repairing the relationship the NHL and the Blackhawks have with the sports fans of Chi-Town. With Patrick Kane and Jon Toews looking like stars-in-the-making, Hawks fans certainly have reason to come out of the woodwork and start cheering again.