First, here’s the elbow to the head of Savard (for those few who haven’t seen it) that started it all on Sunday Night:

You’d expect me to quote the Bruins’ Captain now, after we’ve learned that Savard is out indefinitely with a Grade 2 concussion… likely for the remainder of the season.  But no… instead one of the most vocal critics of the hit calling for Cooke’s suspension is his own teammate, NHL veteran Bill Guerin:

“If a guy gets hurt like that with a shot to the head, there’s got to be something,” Guerin said. “Actions happen. Guys don’t mean to hurt each other, but they do. You got to pay a price for that.”

Guerin said players must know they can play the game with protection against hits to the head, especially those that a player can’t see coming.

“We’re all under the same umbrella, whether the guy’s on my team and I’m sitting right next to him or he’s playing in California,” Guerin said. “It doesn’t matter. We’re all playing in the same league. We all want the same safety. We all want to be looked after the same way. I understand he [Cooke] is on my team but, hey, he’s in a tough spot.”

This says a lot about this situation.  Always known as a gritty player since he joined the Canucks, since being traded to the Capitals and later picked up as a free agent by Pittsburgh, he has become known around the league as something of a cheap shot artist.  He’s picked up two suspensions for dubious hits and has been expected to receive more, but the NHL is doing nothing in this case.  Other players are chiming in to see that these kind of hits aren’t overlooked again.  According to TSN, Lecavalier and St Louis have joined in the chorus, too:

“He’s got no respect for the players,” said Tampa Bay Lightning captain Vincent Lecavalier.  “Matt Cooke, he’s been doing that for a long time.”

Like much of the league, Lecavalier wants to see a change in the way that headshots are penalized, but he realizes that the majority of the onus remains on the players themselves to do the right thing.  Something Lecavalier believes that Cooke ignored.

“He knew exactly what he was doing when he came with his shoulder,” Lecavalier stated.  “He knew exactly that he was going to hit his head and that’s how guys get hurt.”

Lecavalier was not alone in his criticism, Lightning teammate Martin St. Louis was also vocal about his displeasure at the lack of suspension for a repeat offender like Cooke.

“There are certain players in this league, that you tend to see on the highlights with hits like that,” said St. Louis.  “I don’t think it’s a coincidence that it was given by Matt Cooke.  He’s a hard working player, I don’t want to take anything away from the way he plays the game but I think that there are times when guys are vulnerable and he still follows through.  If that hit is not a suspension, I don’t know what is.”

Locker rooms and social occasions within and around the NHL community are about to become very frosty places for Matt Cooke, according to Sheldon Souray:

“Two guys punch each other’s lights out, then you go to bar and you have a couple of beers together.  When you’re Matt Cooke, you go to the bar that night and there is no camaraderie. There are no friends.

“When you fight, there is something honourable in that. But you flip that switch — you start hurting guys — there is noting honourable in that.”

Unfortunately, there’s a rematch in store for the Bruins and the Penguins next week.  It’s likely Matt Cooke will dress for the game.  And because the league has not enforced a penalty in this blatant case of endangerment, it will be up to Boston’s enforcers Shawn Thornton and Milan Lucic to exact a penalty.  Will there be a repeat of the dreaded Bertuzzi-Moore revenge incident?

Six years hence, the NHL continues to prove itself thoroughly incapable of protecting the players.

For the sake of the game, I hope that Penguins’ coach Dan Bylsma finds a reason to scratch Cookie from the lineup March 18th.

It could be said that hockey is a very Canadian sport. It embodies the Canadian values of humility, camaraderie, sportsmanship, egalitarianism, subtlety, respect for tradition, and conservatism. Inside the confines of the rink, hockey players are larger-than-life: aggressive, assertive, and spectacular. Outside the rink? Not so much.

This is one of the overriding problems that plague the NHL. The personalities of the players, still mostly Canadian, make the sport hard to market because the culture of hockey players eschews taking the spotlight, grandstanding, or boasting. Players tend to walk softly when not carrying their big sticks, and this League of Unextraordinary Gentlemen makes for a lack of players with true celebrity potential.

It is an understatement to suggest that the NHL has a marketing problem. And while this blog is awfully hard on Gary Bettman (justifiably so) it’s not all his fault. Consider the story of David Beckham vs. Wayne Gretzky.

When David Beckham was imported to Los Angeles he brought more than just a bendy shot to Major League Soccer. He and Victoria Becks were soon spotted among the elite, embraced by the celebrity culture that dominates Los Angeles. This made it much easier to market the LA Galaxy and Major League Soccer in general, as each appearance in People magazine, on Entertainment Tonight, or gracing the red carpet at premieres served as a stealth advertisement for the game. This drew fans from unlikely sources. Beckham built his fame in front of the global futbol audience, transcended sport and celebrity by marrying one of the Spice Girls, and managed to remain dignified while making himself into a global brand.

Canadians still love Wayne Gretzky. Arguably the greatest player to ever grace the arenas of the NHL, his jersey number is so hallowed it is verboten to wear it — officially retired throughout the league. No player bears comparison, and his infamous move from Edmonton to Los Angeles was heralded as a break-through for the game. In fact, it was. The Kings, a basement-dwelling team before his arrival, began building a dynasty which, though it never returned a cup to LA, remained competitive and entertaining throughout his stay there. They drew in new fans, and the spillover helped the league to add teams in San Jose and Anaheim.

But Wayne is as much an admirable personality as he is a uniquely modest, humble guy. He shuns the limelight. He doesn’t want to attend glitzy parties, isn’t a trendy dresser, avoids controversy. He married a modestly successful actress, not a megastar. And as Canada’s favoured son, he carries the hopes and limitations of a nation wherever he travels. It’s an enormous burden, one he clearly feels, and one which has ultimately kept him from becoming a global transcendent brand. In many ways this is an opportunity lost. Both for Wayne and for the game he so clearly loves.

What the league needs is a cadre of players that can move the puck like Wayne — casually chucking in 50 or 60 goals a year, let’s say — while simultaneously engaging the popular media.

Sean Avery is no Wayne Gretzky. His style of play is better suited to the beer leagues than the beautiful game. But Sean has engaged the popular media and celebrity culture in a way that no player in recent memory has — and he is poised to drive interest in the NHL because of it. Within the league he’s a constant source of news and controversy, both for on-ice antics and off the ice. Within the game a great source of controversy and intrigue, and a pattern that sees shades of Brett Hull, Claude Lemieux, Shanahan, and Roenick.

But outside the arena he’s raised his game to a whole other level. Avery has had relationships or been linked romantically to a growing list of celebutantes including an Olsen twin, Elisha Cuthbert and Rachel Hunter; has made People Magazine’s “Sexiest Man Alive” list; has appeared on MTV Cribs (bragging about your bling is very non-Canadian!); was weirdly an intern at Vogue Magazine this summer; is poised to star in a fashion reality TV show; can frequently be seen amongst the glitterati at fashion shows and premieres; and is even the subject of a movie presently under development at New Line. He’s even been profiled in the New Yorker. This among a growing list of exploits studiously documented in fan magazines like People and Us, and on TV on shows like TRL and Entertainment Tonight.

Avery recently arrived to a Hollywood party and asked a reporter if The Hills’ resident prick Spencer Pratt was there yet, because he wanted to “kick his ass.” All of this behaviour is very-much outside the norm for your cookie-cutter Canadian hockey player. And in many respects it’s preserving interest in his career as a grinder long after the pace of the game in the NHL has moved past players of his ilk. It’s even conceivable that (female) fans in Dallas this season, where he recently signed another one-year contract, might turn up just to see a glamourous NHL star — not Mike Modano, mind you, but Sean Avery.

In any event, if you believe that half of good marketing is just being seen, he engages the popular media with the NHL in a way that is hugely constructive to its image as a major sport with dynamic, cool, exciting players. The revelation here is that what makes a hockey player exciting in this multimedia world is not limited to what he does on the ice. What the die-hards among us will need to accept if we expect the league to grow and flourish is a lot more guys like Sean Avery.

(more photos by ian & doc on flickr)

Greg does an amazing job maintaining this rink, especially considering that it’s all elbow-grease, and not a Zamboni, that maintains the ice. When we were there he had a solid 3″ sheet of ice that was very hard and stood up to our hard turns, grinds, cuts, etc. for hours with only a few shovels (wielded by the losers of each game) needed to sweep up the snow and an occasional spill from the hot tub to replenish the smooth surface. Frankly I’m amazed he’s able to get such solid, consistent ice without machines or refrigeration.

As you can tell from listening to the sound on this video the weather helps (on Friday night it was about -25 celsius) keep the ice cold and hard. Suffering, frequently having your hair freeze, and mild frostbite on your cheeks aside, playing outdoors is a unique experience for Western Canadian kids who’ve grown up on manufactured ice and in municipal rinks. Just marching out into the backyard for a long game of shinny is a prescription for those of us who, as we get older, are still looking for newer and more interesting experiences to rejuvenate our love of the sport.Anyway, definitely give Greg and his wife a call if you’re looking to experience this first-hand.

And if you need a goalie, I could be persuaded. I need some time to rest, though … I’m exhausted.