KK Members Blog

KK Members Blog

The Silent Battle: Concussions and Mental Health

10/18/2021 at 6:44pm EDT

Two weeks ago the hockey world was shocked when Carey Price, the goalie who carried the Montreal Canadiens to the Stanley Cup this past summer, announced he would be entering the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program. This came out of nowhere from one of the most consistent and quiet performers in the NHL. It was a statement which came out of nowhere and surprised many people (including GM Marc Bergevin).

I'm writing this post today because when I read the explanation from Carey's wife about the situation I could immediately relate. People in the hockey world were shocked and incredulous that the Canadiens organization didn't know this was coming. But I understood it. I knew exactly where Carey was coming from. I wrote a comment on that Kukla's Korner post where I explained my personal experiences - things I had only told a handful of people. These were things I had previously felt embarrassed and ashamed to write, but it was so easy to identify with Carey that I had no hesitation writing a post about it.

So what's my story? In 2016 I experienced my first ever concussion. I wish I had a great story about how it happened, but I don't. According to my wife I passed out while I was standing in the bathroom at home and hit my head on the granite countertop. She was asleep but woke up from the sound; she came into the bathroom and I do remember her screaming at me. I thought I had done something wrong for her to be yelling at me, so what do I do? I stuttered to get up, walked to bed, and then fell asleep.

Memory Lane

09/19/2021 at 8:08am EDT

Facebook's "On This Day" feature has started to bring forward some interesting hockey tid bits that I had posted there in the past. On today's date in 2015 was the Red/White game in TC for training Camp. I remember being so excited because they weren't dumping the puck in; I remember Z dancing at the blue line refusing to send the puck in for a 50/50 chance to get it back. What an exciting brand of hockey! ....and then the season started, the joke was on me. In any case, more interesting was this Babcock quote from 2014, which I will leave without further comment and up for discussion: "I used to walk in every year in training camp," Babcock reiterated Thursday on the eve of training camp, "and tell them the tie goes to the veteran." Not anymore. "Ties goes to the best player," Babcock said. "If you're ready to play, we got a young group, you're playing. We'll find a way to do that."

The Broke NHL

09/06/2021 at 5:51pm EDT

The Fans are supposed to go along with ads on the sweaters because the NHL owners are so poor they need the extra ad revenue. Are the billionaire owers really that behind on their bills they need the extra revenue? I doubt it.

There are a few teams struggling to survive due to missmanagement and owners that don't know how to run a team. Maybe they shouldn't be owners then.

Will they also join in having ads on their clothing when on TV for that extra revenue? How about it Gary? Will you and the owners put your faces on TV wearing ads? Somehow I doubt it.

Put up or shut up about ads.

Video- Top Goal From The Past NHL Season

07/05/2019 at 12:58pm EDT

6 1/2 minutes to watch, includes a few honorable mentions too.

The Most Iconic Goal in Red Wings History

04/10/2019 at 8:03pm EDT

This one is self explanatory, but should be hotly contested. What one goal scored in Red Wings history is the most iconic to you? Good and bad are welcome. I will never forget that disgusting move Datsyuk pulled on Turco, launching him into the "highlight reel bank." I cant speak to anything pre-90s, but here are some suggestions: Yzerman from the blue line. Lidstrom from center ice. McCarty dangling Philly. Larionov 3 OT. Statue of Liberty. Your votes in the comment section..

It's never too early to look at lines.

09/17/2018 at 7:59pm EDT

We can pretty well guarantee that Ken Holland won't make a trade unless it's at the deadline. At least he gives us that. But with Zetterberg done FOR-EV-ER, and based on a few things written here and there by the (probably) team - controlled media, but mostly the lines we've seen so far, we can make out how the roster shapes up.

Who cares about the average at best goalies and let's face it, Hicketts is going to be the 7th d-man and we'll run the same crap defense we did all last year.

Let's look at the forwards, which actually hold some promise this year! Bertuzzi – Larkin –Mantha Nyquist – Nielsen – Helm Abdelkader –AA –Vanek XXX - Glendenning - XXX Frk and Witkowski extras Frk is injured and Witkowski has the goon repellant/rover ability. But Kenny hasn't been afraid to say goodbye to Frk before.

I believe Khan wrote that Abby was meant to be on the third line with Vanek and AA. What a defensive hell hole, when last year it was the "shut down" line. Helm just scored 2 goals in the scrimmage. He's cemented there until he slips and falls on a freshly mopped floor, breaking his tailbone.

So this leaves 2 open spots for Svechnikov, Rasmussen, and Zadina. Who gets those spots? Cage match anyone? Your crazy (or not so crazy) predictions below.

Save your job, General Managers.

01/15/2018 at 6:23pm EST

What can Ken Holland do to save his job as a general manager of the Detroit Red Wings? How about Peter Chiarelli in Edmonton, or Marc Bergevin in Montreal?

Fletcher in Minnesota, Dorion in Ottawa? Realistically, what can these gentlemen do to save their jobs?

Is there anything they can do? If you'd rather, dream up something completely out of this world. Trade deadline: February 26th.

Given Up Hope Yet?

12/28/2017 at 10:03am EST

A couple of years ago, I would tell you that I am not a "true" Red Wings fan. It's pretty simple, I hadn't suffered. I wasn't around for the "Dead Wings." From 2002 - 2015, I had seen 2 Stanley Cups and obviously the consecutive playoff streak. Towards the end, the pundits came out with "This is the year that they miss the playoffs!!!!!11!!1!!" and sure enough, they'd squeak in.

Finally, that quest ended in 2016 and thus began the slow plunge into agony.

I can't imagine what it's like to be a Detroit Lions fan. Sure, they've been decent the past few years, but overall we know the story. No superbowls, no playoff wins in so many decades, etc. Listening to 97.1 on the way home a couple days ago, a couple of people called in saying that they will boycott the Lions, that they haven't watched in so long, and of course the people that have abandoned the Lions for the Steelers or Packers or *PUKE*... New England Patriots.

What does it take to quit on your team?
To boycott them?
To completely switch allegiances?

I literally laughed out loud

12/19/2017 at 10:00pm EST

Indeed. I saw Luke Glendening get his 7th goal of the season. Sure it was with an empty net but it happened. I loved it.

There isn't much to cheer about this year. I have been to the LCA 3 times so far and I get why the seats are empty. Who is there to cheer for? Luke? This isn't the new Star Wars.

I usually do a 3 vs 3 where I find three good things and three bad things about a game. I am going to restart that soon,

BUT....

What a great game..... Thanks Luke!!

What is Your Best "Hockey" Gift?

12/14/2017 at 8:37am EST

'Tis the season of giving (and to be jolly, but don't tell that to a Red Wings fan), which is oddly *after* the season of giving thanks. Figure that one out.

I recently got my first hockey jersey dry cleaned for engagement pictures, and boy did it need saving. Once again, I have more connection to the 2000s Wings, thus my first jersey was a white Datsyuk. In my very biased opinion, the white beats red any day. In any case, that being my first jersey, and though I own other pieces of memorabilia that do actually have more value, this is my favorite hockey gift of all time.

What was your first/best hockey gift? Tickets, a meet and greet with a player, signed puck? Is it something you gave to someone, or maybe an item passed down through your family?

As always, looking forward to the responses and I encourage everyone to use the member's blog.

Gosh, I miss Pavel Datsyuk

11/03/2017 at 10:25am EDT

I fell in love with hockey thanks to Brett Hull and Dominik Hasek. The '01-'02 season (yeah, I am relatively new), with (everything about) the '02 Western Conference Finals and Larionov's Triple OT Winner honestly being the crown jewels of my fandom (although I did cry just a bit for the '08 Cup).

Essentially starting the downfall of Marty Turco's career is the moment I fell in love with Pavel Datsyuk.

And he has ruined (Red Wings) hockey for me.

Datsyuk is (or was) a player that will simply mesmerize an audience with dazzling Datsyukian dekes and dangles that leave jock straps hanging from the rafters. At any given moment, you knew he could pull off something magical. Even if it wasn't a goal; he can beat the crap out of Corey Perry and put the biggest, toughest, meanest guys flat on their behinds.

Pavel Datsyuk was/is special. I mean alien or super-human. At least he gave me that feeling. Save Connor McDavid, the NHL doesn't have that anymore, let alone the torture that is Red Wings hockey right now.

You, the reader, can make this comments section anything you want it to be.
Who is that special player in today's game? Or who was that player to you? Super Mario, The Great One, Stevie Y?

If nothing else, enjoy the wealth of hockey highlights!

European Teams Return to the Ice

08/24/2017 at 9:59am EDT

To carry you over until the NHL returns, Europe offers two options available today.

The contracted KHL kicked off it's 10th season earlier this week, with last year's finalists opening the schedule.

en.khl.ru

And the Champions Hockey League starts today. The term champions is a misnomer, it is the new description for what was formerly knonw as the Eurpoean Trophy.

32 teams, some with long histories, from 12 different countries.

Both the KHL and CHL have multiple streaming options.

Goodbye, Joe

04/09/2017 at 12:25pm EDT

I'll never forget The Joe for a lot of reasons, but none more so than it created a hockey fan out of my daughter, which served to strengthen our bond even more.
It was during her sophomore year in high school, so the spring of 2007. I and a friend had tickets to go watch Lake State in the CCHA playoffs at The Joe. The morning we were to leave to make the 5-6 hour trek south, he had to bail at the last second.

Well, this kind of sucks.

Then I had an idea: pull my daughter out of school for the day, and take her to Detroit!

Now, this wasn’t going to be an easy sell. She had no interest in hockey or the Red Wings at that time. She certainly knew of the Wings, seeing just about every game was on TV in our house since she could remember. But, it was simply background noise to whatever endeavor she chose to do while dad, yet again, took over the TV for (sigh) another Red Wings game.

So, I went to the high school office and had the secretary called her out of class (I worked in the same building, so this was the easy part).

The Hockey World Loses Ilkka Sinisalo at the Age of 58

04/06/2017 at 9:28am EDT

Sam Carchidi on the passing of Ilkka Sinisalo

Ilkka Sinisalo, a smooth-skating forward who was part of some of the Flyers' top offensive teams in the 1980s, died peacefully with his family by his side in Finland on Wednesday morning, the team announced.

Mr. Sinisalo, 58, battled prostate cancer for several years.

"Ilkka was a true friend and loyal member of the Flyers," Paul Holmgren, the club's president, said in a statement. "He gave a great deal of his time, effort and talents to the organization in several capacities, as a player and long-time scout, to bring this franchise success on and off the ice.

"Most important to all that knew him, he was a great person, a loving husband, father and grandfather. His presence and friendship will be deeply missed by all that knew him."

More

Hockey is for Everyone

03/26/2017 at 8:39am EDT

Support the Boycott!!!

Strengthen the Game.

The CP at TSN,

As sports organizations and notable hockey figures express support of the U.S. women's team, several players say they rejected overtures from USA Hockey to serve as replacements for the upcoming world championships.

Two players told The Associated Press on Friday that USA Hockey reached out to them to gauge their interest for the worlds, which begin next week in Plymouth, Michigan.

Brittany Ott, a goaltender for the Boston Pride of the National Women's Hockey League, and Annie Pankowski, a junior forward at the University of Wisconsin, said the email from USA Hockey was not an invitation but rather an inquiry about their availability.

"I responded to that email and I said I'm not willing," Pankowski said.

continued

3 on 3 Or: Where have you been?

02/23/2017 at 8:00am EST

These are my six takeaways from the latest Detroit Red Wings game. I am committed to finding three positives and three “are you kidding me” moments. In a season that has been difficult to watch there is an overwhelming amount of negativity amongst the Wings fans I know (at least through this site along with twitter) and love. So instead of getting bummed out I am going to take it on myself to find the positive while also realizing that the “are you kidding me” moments are dominant. I am extremely biased. Things I will avoid 1. Management. Like a coach I am working with the team they have given me. By the way I probably will not manage to avoid the one thing I just said I would be avoiding.

Hypothetical Detroit trade scenarios and you. This is where we discuss and get down and dirty!

01/24/2017 at 1:54pm EST

note: bringing this to the top of KK so all can see. original post was on 1/23/17 at 4:39pm.

Hey folks, I've been having a ton of scenarios on trades race through my head lately. One of those involves a hypothetical from our own chief(IwoCPO). He mentioned a possible Mrazek($4 mil/yr through 2018) trade bait scenario. So for the hell of it I explored that a bit reading some things here and there. Lets see who needs a goaltender. I keep being led back to 2 teams which are Buffalo and Winnipeg. Usually teams hate trading inside their own division because it can sometimes over inflate prices.

Lets start with Buffalo. Mrazek to Buffalo you say? Why? Well, their goaltending is not exactly stellar and they would like to climb out of the basement. They also have to room for the expense Mrazek would carry. Would we want anything back in return? Picks? D man(men)? Food for thought. Robin Lehner is 11-12-0-5 and has a decent SV% .921 and GAA% at 2.52. Anders Nilsson is comparable to Lehner. So what would we take back if we even want anyone? How about a D man, lets see what we have. Ristolainen is their top D man. So i guess the answer is no hehe. We cant afford him and they wont get rid of him. Signed for the long haul.

Where Are They Now?: Detroit Red Wings Edition

01/19/2017 at 1:42pm EST

Detroit Red WIngs GM Ken Holland has traded away a fair amount of prospects/young players in recent years, in addition to losing several more on waivers. Detroit fans have fretted, gnashed teeth, and more still over most all of these losses in some form.

So... where are these guys now, and what are they actually doing?

3 on 3 Or: You're gonna need a bigger boat

01/09/2017 at 5:13pm EST

These are my six takeaways from the latest Detroit Red Wings game. I am committed to finding three positives and three “are you kidding me” moments. In a season that has been difficult to watch there is an overwhelming amount of negativity amongst the Wings fans I know (at least through this site along with twitter) and love. So instead of getting bummed out I am going to take it on myself to find the positive while also realizing that the “are you kidding me” moments are dominant. I am extremely biased. Things I will avoid 1. Management. Like a coach I am working with the team they have given me. By the way I probably will not manage to avoid the one thing I just said I would be avoiding.

I guess I pressed my luck a little too much after "complaining" the Wings dominate(ish) a game on only my second post. I am not sure if a let down game was to be expected or if the three games in California were basically this season in a nutshell. Two games where the losing team scores 0 goals and then a 9 goal outburst that we were on the wrong side of. So lets talk about the Sharks from San Jose.

3 on 3 Or: How to topple a King

01/06/2017 at 5:25pm EST

These are my six takeaways from the latest Detroit Red Wings game. I am committed to finding three positives and three “are you kidding me” moments. In a season that has been difficult to watch there is an overwhelming amount of negativity amongst the Wings fans I know (at least through this site along with twitter) and love. So instead of getting bummed out I am going to take it on myself to find the positive well also realizing that the “are you kidding me” moments are dominant. I am extremely biased. Things I will avoid 1. Management. Like a coach I am working with the team they have given me. By the way I probably will not manage to avoid the one thing I just said I would be avoiding.

Last night was a fun hockey night. The Kings of LA are the main topic but I have a bonus GOOD and BAD moments. And since I can basically do whatever I want I am going to be a rebel and start with the bonus coverage. I know what you're thinking, "Axe, man, I don't care what you do". So lets talk about the WJC.

Hunger

01/06/2017 at 7:06am EST

Hey gang- This is a one off piece that is related to my 3 on 3 post tomorrow. I am sitting here watching the Red Wings and I started thinking about hunger. Not because I was hungry...OK well not ONLY because I was hungry but I was thinking about hockey players and the hunger they have to win. Then I started thinking about what would each team eat to satisfy that hunger (it was a long way from point A to point B but lets not analyze me). So I figured what the heck lets give it a shot. My plan was to post this tomorrow included with the 3 on 3 but that seemed to be too much so here is a separate post.

3 on 3 Or: How to create an unoriginal title

01/05/2017 at 5:31pm EST

These are my six takeaways from the latest Detroit Red Wings game. I am committed to finding three positives and three “are you kidding me” moments. In a season that has been difficult to watch there is an overwhelming amount of negativity amongst the Wings fans I know (at least through this site along with twitter) and love. So instead of getting bummed out I am going to take it on myself to find the positive well also realizing that the “are you kidding me” moments are dominant. I am extremely biased. Things I will avoid 1. Management. Like a coach I am working with the team they have given me. By the way I probably will not manage to avoid the one thing I just said I would be avoiding.

Since this is my first time posting something like this I imagine it will be a work in progress. I have committed to write more and what better topic than something I am passionate about. Mostly I just want to get one of those cool banners like Malik has. You are probably thinking, great another Red Wings blog. I totally understand and if you please direct all comments here they will be taken under advisement. So.. Anaheim eh? The Mighty Ducks of the west.

Talent. Will. Want. Motivation. Chemistry.

01/05/2017 at 7:50am EST

Do teams that win have all of these traits? Some of them? A balance? No, this isn't rhetorical, I am actually asking. I am very interested to know. I haven't written a ton on Paul's site but for those who know I am a Red Wings fan a billion times infinity percent. I have started writing this right as the second period has ended with the Wings in Anaheim. I do my best to watch all Red Wings game as a hockey fan first and a Wings fan second. That never happens but I swear I try. So I watch this team and I see talent. Up and down the roster we have talent. Is it AHL talent? I do not think so but hey, I am very biased. So, let's save some time and talk about Will and Want.

Martin St. Louis Deserves Fans' Forgiveness as Tampa Bay Lightning Set to Retire His Number

10/10/2016 at 9:00am EDT

Former Tampa Bay Lightning forward Martin St. Louis will be the first player in franchise history to have his number retired, the team announced on Thursday.

St. Louis' number 26 will be raised to the rafters at Amalie Arena during a ceremony before a game against the Columbus Blue Jackets — a team coached by former Lightning bench boss John Tortorella — on Jan. 13, 2017.

As Lightning owner Jeff Vinik made the announcement over a conference call with the six-time All-Star, fan reaction began to pour out across the internet and social media. While many fans were excited to see the two-time Art Ross Trophy winner receive the honor, others were still upset with St. Louis for how his career with the Lightning came to an abrupt close when he was traded to the New York Rangers for Ryan Callahan on Mar. 5, 2014.

The circumstances surrounding the St. Louis trade, at least from some Lightning fans' points of view, was largely selfish. After being passed over by Team Canada general manager Steve Yzerman and his staff for the 2014 Winter Olympics, St. Louis was vocal about what he viewed as a snub from the roster and demanded a trade. The demand came as the Lightning were battling through the extended absence of an injured Steven Stamkos and fighting for a playoff berth.

5Hole Yahoo Fantasy Hockey League

09/13/2016 at 10:01am EDT

It's that time of year again! 5Hole Fantasy Hockey is back and ready for you to join its ranks. We have 5 openings in a 10 GM league, and as always, I would much prefer filling those with KK members than any random Yahoo riff raff.

Some of the league settings:

10 team Head to Head league
Live Draft on October 1, 2016 @ 9:00 PM (Start Time Subject To Change)
5 Max Aquisitions per week
3 Minimum weekly Goalie Appearances
All Trades Reviewed by League
Roster Add/Drop Deadline is Daily, and Changes Take Effect the Next Day
Positions: C, C, C, LW, LW, LW, RW, RW, RW, D, D, D, Util, Util, G, G, BN, BN, BN, BN, BN, IR+, IR+, IR+
Scoring: G, A, +/-, PIM, PPP, SHP, GWG, Wins, SV%, SHO

All I ask of GMs is to please remain active throughout the season (Keep lineups active, answer trade requests in a timely manner, take care of IR and NA players). As stated above, we use a live draft, however you are able to submit a custom list for autodraft purposes if you are unable to be online at draft time.

If you are interested in joining the league, or have any questions regarding the details, please PM me or leave a comment and I will respond ASAP. Thanks for your consideration, and much appreciation to Paul for continuing to allow me to post this here.

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