Kukla's Korner

Chicago Asks For Help

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

11/25/05 at 11:46 AM ET | Comments (0)

via the AP,

After accumulating more penalty minutes and giving up more power plays than any team in the NHL, the Chicago Blackhawks are asking for help. Blackhawks general manager Dale Tallon has requested a meeting next week with Steve Walkom, the NHL's senior vice president and director of officiating, to try to determine why the Hawks are short-handed so often. "We're going to have myself, the coaches and players meet with Walkom, and we're going to go over it and discuss it and get to the bottom of it," Tallon said. "It has to be fixed. We can't keep doing it." The Hawks are averaging a league-high 22.4 penalty minutes a game and have been short-handed 172 times.

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Weekly Avery Quote

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

11/25/05 at 11:17 AM ET | Comments (0)

from the Tennessean, "Paul Kariya is the biggest diver in the league, and Hordichuk is the worst player in the NHL,'' Avery said. "He's an embarrassment. He can't even skate, he can't shoot and he can't pass. Just look at the stats.'' read on

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OLN Is Driven To Improve

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

11/25/05 at 11:07 AM ET | Comments (0)

from the Journal News,

Growing pains aside, OLN's job is to make NHL fans as fanatical and dependable as "Monday Night Football'' devotees. Acceptance of the new rules will help, as will anticipated technical improvements making the puck easier to see — the holy grail of hockey on TV. The network also is devoting time to features so that the f acemask-covered faces can become as familiar as those on other athletes. "You have to imagine yourself playing it or being in their shoes," said Smith, the former Rangers GM. "So when you have helmets and shields it's hard to imagine." When shooting for the front of the sports section, familiarity matters. And at OLN, as coordinating producer Mike Baker put it, there is a drive to improve everything. "OLN is the proverbial blank canvas," Baker said.

Continue Reading »

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The Rocket

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

11/25/05 at 03:01 AM ET | Comments (0)

I do hope this movie makes it to the U.S. or at least available on DVD. from News 1130 (Vancouver),

The Rocket, a new film about Maurice Richard, is as much about French-English relations as it is about the competitive fire that burned deep in the heart of the Montreal Canadiens icon. It chronicles a period many Canadians would rather forget and which still fuels some nationalists in Quebec, when French-Canadians were dismissed as "pea-soupers" and treated as second-class by their Anglo bosses. But it's not a rant. Screenwriter Ken Scott (La Grande seduction) has crafted a tale that is part sports story, part love story, part inspirational story and all heart. The Rocket opens under its French title, Maurice Richard, in Quebec on Friday. It will premiere in the rest of Canada on March 10.

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1/3 Of NHL Players Using Perfomanced Enhancing Drugs

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

11/24/05 at 09:38 PM ET | Comments (0)

from CBC,

Dick Pound, chairman of the World Anti-Doping Agency, believes as many as one-third of the NHL's 700 players may be taking some form of performance-enhancing drug. "I spoke with Gary (NHL commissioner Gary Bettman) and he said 'We don't have the problem in hockey,'" Pound said Thursday in an interview with the London Free Press. "I told him he does. You wouldn't be far wrong if you said a third (of hockey players are gaining some pharmaceutical assistance)." Asked if he meant performing-enhancing drugs, Pound replied "Yes."

NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly has taken exception to comments by Dick Pound, president of the World Anti-Doping Agency, suggesting as many as one-third of the NHL's 700 players may take some form of performance-enhancing substance. "I find it troubling, to say the least, that he would find it necessary to comment on something he has absolutely no knowledge of. Perhaps Mr. Pound would be better served to limit his comments to topics as to which he has knowledge, instead of speculating on matters as to which he has none."

Saskin also bristled at Pound's statement. "Dick Pound's comments are incredibly irresponsible and have no basis in fact," said Saskin. "He has no knowledge of our sport and our players and frankly has no business making such comments."

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Van Massenhoven Suffers Facial Injuries

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

11/24/05 at 06:16 PM ET | Comments (0)

via TSN,

It has been a traumatic week for veteran NHL referee Don Van Massenhoven. The former Ontario Provincial Police officer was right there when Jiri Fischer collapsed earlier this week at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit and last night in Florida, Van Massenhoven took a puck to the face and suffered significant facial injuries that will indefinitely keep him from working. The 45-year-old from Strathroy, ON had to undergo seven hours of reconstructive facial surgery for multiple fractures after a puck deflected into his face during last night's game between the New Jersey Devils and Florida Panthers in Sunrise, Fla.

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Open Post

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

11/24/05 at 12:22 PM ET | Comments (0)

As I mentioned yesterday, posting today will be kept at a minimum while many of us celebrate Thanksgiving. However, many people are still visiting, especially the Canadian readers, so this is for you. Feel free to post away, direct other readers to interesting articles or just sound off about the game of hockey. Just click on comments and post away. I don't expect many of you to respond, but I am sure someone will take advantage of this opportunity.

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It Is Just A Game

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

11/24/05 at 12:20 PM ET | Comments (0)

via Eric Duhatschek of the Globe and Mail...Robert Lang of the Detroit Red Wings putting hockey in perspective after witnessing Jiri Fischer collapsing on the Wings bench:

"You get stressed by the little things, like not scoring or winning games, but then something like this puts your mind in the right place. You just go home and kiss the kids good night and be glad you're there."

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It Takes One To Know One

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

11/24/05 at 12:15 PM ET | Comments (0)

from Terry Frei, special to ESPN,

The Flyers' Peter Forsberg recently pantomimed a diving motion to make fun of Sidney Crosby, implying the Penguins' prized rookie, in some situations, didn't exactly need to be struck by a wayward Zamboni to be sent to the ice. Crosby could shock Forsberg by coming back with this: "Om man förstår sig själv förstår man andra." (Which means, literally, "If one understands oneself, one understands others." Or "Oh, yeah? Takes one to know one, Foppa!") As great a player as he is, there are times the incredibly sturdy Forsberg can be knocked off the puck by anyone and anything.

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Giving Thanks

Blog: KK Hockey By Paul

11/23/05 at 11:52 PM ET | Comments (0)

from Shawn P. Roarke of Fox Sports,

Hockey fans across the continent — and the globe, really — have much to be grateful for this Thanksgiving. Most important, we should all give thanks that we have the game we love, being played at its highest possible level, back for our enjoyment. It wasn't easy and it wasn't very pretty, but somehow the league bosses and the players found a compromise that allowed the NHL to pick itself up off the mat and return with a vengeance.

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