Go to Stuart Scott's house or skate. Those were my New Year's Eve options.
Stuart Scott is good people. He is fun and gets lots of free golf. Life's grandest combination. His house is East Coast big with Midwestern and Southern warmth.
But, my thoughts were of winter and ice.
As most things with me, it came out of nowhere. During the late afternoon on New Year's Eve, I decided I would begin the calendar year by skating on my backyard rink. When the ball dropped in Times Square, I would lace up the Bauers and head out the back door.
Then, 72-year-old Dick Clark began counting down the end of 2001.
Five, four, three, two one. Happy New Year.
My backyard rink is 60 feet by 40 feet. Like most things I have, I wish it was bigger.
I found a place on-line at www.nicerink.com and placed an order. I implemented my usual budgeting savvy. I paid for it by credit card, thereby adding to my balance, thereby adding to the years it would take for me to pay off my credit card, thereby ending up paying $94.78 for that Frank Zappa CD I bought at Sam Goody's in 1997. The rink purchase likely will end up costing me the equivalent of Barry Melrose's yearly back waxing budget.
I have no problem spending money. I DO have a problem spending long hours building things. That's where my friend Ed DeRosia comes in. Ed is the kind of guy who could build a house with a bag of used bowling balls and a stick of butter. After I planted the stakes in the ground and inserted most of the boards around the perimeter of the 60x40 slab of asphalt I had just overpaid for, I did what I do best - look busy and wait until someone else does it. Hey, it's important to know your strengths. I AM doing more each year, and next year my goal is to do it all by myself. But, for now Ed is the bomb.
In my two years as a rink owner I have discovered two things: one, you never think your going to get the rink up. Too much work. Too much to do. And two, you never think the water will freeze. But, the last week of 2001 was a good one for ice making in the northeast -- no precipitation and 20-25 degree nights. I was hoping for a couple twelve degree nights, but it turned out we didn't need them. Despite battling some elusive holes in the giant plastic liner that sits in and drapes over the 2-foot boards, the ice man was coming. On New Year's Eve, I walked on the ice and found it 80 percent solid. I figured by midnight, after six hours of 23-degree darkness, it would be solid as a rock. Ice, ice, baby.
It couldn't have been sweeter. You can't beat a good New Year's Eve Boo-Yeah at Stuart Scott's house, but this is where I belonged. Midnight on ice with my 9-year-old son, Brett, and my 7-year-old daughter, Malorie. A full moon, a Jupiter sighting and the only constellation I recognize, Orion.
(One night in the summer of '84, when I was 18 and unsure of my post-high school future, I looked up at the sky outside of Mike Pizzoferrato's house in Mingo Junction, Ohio, and saw Orion. I decided, at that instance, that no matter where I go in this uncertain world I would always look up at Orion and it would bring me back to that moment of friendship and safety you have in high school, when your friends are in the hundreds and the rent is paid by Dad. Every night, no matter where I am, I always look for it.)
During the first minutes of 2002, Orion was there with the full moon, Jupiter, and a blanket of stars. The soundtrack for the evening was steel shaving virgin ice, a reflecting rubber puck smacking against wooden sticks and gasps of, "This is the coolest thing, ever!" I've never been in a bad mood or ever had a bad day skating. But on Jan. 1, 2002, I never had a better one. Safe. And with my best friends.
Note: Last winter, I was told of a book of essays someone wrote on their backyard rink. Being in Year One of my rink, I had to get it. I went to my local mall and paid $18.95 for "Home Ice." Its author is Jack Falla. In my mind, it is the greatest book on hockey ever written. Not backyard rink books, but hockey books period. Jack's Gretzky-like writing makes mine look like Stan Jonathan, if Jonathan were playing now ... with a backpack filled with ball bearings. (It's all ball bearings nowadays.) It is a must read. I am reading it again now, for the third time. You can find it on-line.
A sports league with a strong rookie base is a sports league that is a position to succeed. Like a navel ring on Britney. This past summer's NHL draft was excellent. The players chosen last June will be impact players in the NHL for decades to come. The foundation of the NHL is in great shape.
Here are five first-year players making the biggest impact right now.
|  | | | Kovalchuk |
1. Ilya Kovalchuk, Atlanta Thrashers: First off, he is 18 years old. A young 18. And his release has to be in the Top 10 in the league. He should reach 30 goals. Watching him skate in the open ice is pure joy. Don't compare him to anyone, especially selfish brooders like Pavel Bure and Jaromir Jagr. He is a unique talent. A Christmas tree from head to toe. Add up the next ten years and I think he will lead everyone in goals.
2. Dany Heatley, Atlanta Thrashers: Turns 21 on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. His talent doesn't drip like Kovalchuk's, but he is the perfect North American complement, although he was born in Germany. He looks like he has a pretty good idea of what's going on. Hopefully, he gets nastier as his career moves along. Joe Thornton didn't have many penalty minutes his rookie year, either.
3. Erik Cole, Carolina Hurricanes: American made. Born in Oswego, N.Y., Cole was a third-round pick in 1998. Went to Clarkson University. He turns 24 in November, and that is obvious the way he plays. He looks like a mini-Heatly to me. Playing important minutes on an important team. Just think though, when he was Kovalchuk's age, Kovalchuk was 13.
4. Kristian Huselius, Florida Panthers: Another 23-year-old with experience. Is a streaky scorer, which sometimes means a player is a perimeter one who needs the play to come to him. He hasn't been spooked by Mike Keenan, yet.
5. Dan Blackburn, New York Rangers: I know he is just a backup and really hasn't appeared in enough games, but this 18-year-old appears to be the real deal. Keep in mind, the Rangers are not an easy team for which to play goalie. You see lots of shots, many of which are good scoring chances. If you have a save percentage of over .900 for the Rangers, you have talent.
The Calder Memorial Trophy is an annual award given to the player selected as the most proficient in his first year of competition in the NHL by a poll of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association. From 1936-37 until his death in 1943, Frank Calder, NHL President, bought a trophy each year to be given permanently to the outstanding rookie. After Calder's death, the NHL presented the Calder Memorial Trophy in his memory and the trophy is to be kept in perpetuity. To be eligible for the award, a player cannot have played more than 25 games in any single preceding season nor in six or more games in each of any two preceding seasons in any major professional league. The player must not be older than 26 years before September 15 of the season in which he is eligible.
This week's Great 8 is with Frank Supovitz, Group Vice President, Events and Entertainment for the NHL.
|  | | | Supovitz |
This year's NHL All-Star game is in Los Angeles. The weekend begins Friday, Feb. 1, with the Young Stars and SuperSkills competition on ESPN. The All-Star Game is Saturday, Feb. 2, on ABC, the day before the Super Bowl.
No. 1: What can we expect from this year's All-Star Game?
Supovitz: It's a great preview event for the Winter Games. Since 1998 we've divided the two squads into North America against the World. With the Olympics coming up it gives the game much more texture. Also, since we've added the YoungStars Game, we can represent all 30 teams without squeezing as many as possible on the All-Star teams. Also, creating the NHL Celebrity all-star game will be a huge attraction. Producer Jerry Bruckheimer and David E. Kelley are two of the biggest players in Hollywood and will captain the two teams for Wednesday's game at the Staples Center on Jan. 30. Denis Leary and Cuba Gooding Jr. will be among those playing. About 70 personalities are involved in some way on and off the ice. Tons of star quality.
Barry Melrose claims he'll be the first player taken.
No. 2: What about the always popular NHL All-Star FANtasy?
Supovitz: It's a 300,000 square foot interactive hockey theme park that about 75,000 people will visit at the L.A. Convention Center. We will have 25 attractions, the Stanley Cup and 16 other trophies seen at the Hockey Hall of Fame. A main attraction is an indoor hockey rink. Friday at 3 p.m. we will have the 1980 U.S. Olympic Hockey team playing a group of NHL Alumni."
No. 3: Explain the YoungStars game?
Supovitz: It's two teams comprised of players in their entry level contracts, 13 players per team, a four-on-four format with three 10-minute running clock periods. They will play 9 p.m. This replaces the Heroes of Hockey game and will take place Friday night just before the skills competition.
ESPN will have the YoungStars game and SuperSkills Competition beginning at 9 p.m. ET. A late added skill will be what NHL player, using any means necessary, can move Steve Levy's hair.
No. 4: Any changes in the skills competition this year?
Supovitz: This is the first year we've made no changes to the skills competition. It's comprised of six contests -- puck control relay, fastest skater, hardest shot, most accurate shot and two goalie events, pass and score and the breakaway relay.
No. 5: The Super Bowl was moved back a week this year, which puts it the same weekend as All-Star weekend. How has that hurt the event?
Supovitz: We found it hasn't had any affect at all. Our events were on Friday and Saturday anyway. We didn't want the game on early on a Sunday. The only thing that it has affected is that FANtasy will close midnight on Saturday. We were going to be open on Sunday and now we are not. The ticket sales for FANtasy have been as strong as they were in Toronto and Denver."
No. 6: It's such a big event, yet it's presented well. Is that difficult to do?
Supovitz: I don't want to take credit for the fact our game and the players we showcase are a classy product. We have a great product to promote.
No. 7: Are people around the NHL offices talking Olympics and what it could do for the league?
Supovitz: There is a sense of excitement of the Olympics and what it can do for our sport. We felt that the experiences in Nagano were more of a test case because of the time change, because it was difficult and impossible to see the games live, because they were on in the middle of the night. Olympic fans will get to see hockey in its finest form and see the finest players play. It can only help us.
No. 8: Next year's All-Star game is in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. What about in the years after that?
Supovitz: What we do is send out a bid package and what is required. Teams and their host cities come back with a proposal. Because of the popularity of All-Star Weekend, the number of teams that will apply for any given year has increased dramatically. We just closed the bidding process for 2004-2006 and ten teams applied. Those three games will come from those ten teams.
Sunday Bloody Sunday. That's the song I think of when I think of Keith Magnuson.
|  | | Keith Magnuson registered 14 goals, 125 assists and 1,442 penalty minutes in 589 games for the Blackhawks. |
I was 3 when Keith began his career with the Blackhawks and I was 14 when he retired. He is one of those select few individuals whose indelible image has yet to fade from my mind. In those 11 seasons, I only recall him fighting and bleeding.
Perhaps, no Blackhawk wore that great sweater with such fierce pride and courage. In 589 NHL games, he scored just 14 goals. It took Atlanta's Dany Heatley just 38 NHL games to pass Magnuson on the career goal-scoring list. But if Heatley and other young NHL players ever learn to play with the preparation and passion of Keith Magnuson, they will do things they never thought they could.
Magnuson was born in Saskatchewan. He played college hockey at the University of Denver and won back-to-back national championships in 1968 and '69. He's the president of the Blackhawks alumni club. He turns 55 in April.
What are you doing now?: I'm working for Coca-Cola. I'm the director of sales of the supermarket channel. I've been with the company for 17 years, ever since I got out of coaching in 1984. I had worked for 7-Up through my whole playing career and stayed on after I retired. Our president went over to Coke and I went with him.
Why did you begin working with 7-Up?: When I played for Murray Armstrong at the University of Denver, he was a great mentor for me and he always said you'll have this education to fall back on. I graduated from Denver with a general business degree. He helped lay out a plan for me.
Family rundown: Cynthia is my wonderful wife. Our oldest son Kevin is 25. He is playing for Richmond in the East Coast League. He graduated from Michigan with honors. This might be his last year and he might become a lawyer. My daughter Molly just graduated from Kansas and works with me at Coke. She gets up at 5:30 every morning and goes to work with me.
What was life like in Saskatchewan growing up?: I just talked with a friend of mine who was up in Canada and he said he played pond hockey with his kids for 10 hours! Two days in a row. And that really reminds me of what we did in Wadena, Saskatchewan. We played with a tennis ball, we played with a puck, we played with horse terds. Whatever it took to have a game. Our whole day was spent on hockey. I think kids should be doing more of that.
What's the most money you made in your career?: I made 12 to 15 thousand my rookie year. I made more working for 7-Up. Then in my third year in the league, Bobby Hull went to the WHA and my salary doubled from 25 thousand to 50. At the end of my career I made 100,000 for a few years.
Note: Jaromir Jagr makes over $100,000 a game.
Preparing for a game: I've always said you have to prepare mentally twice as long as the game is. The game was usually two and a half hours, therefore five hours of concentration should be given to that game. If you don't do it, you won't be there. And you know what? If you're not there, and how fast hockey is, you won't have the passion.
On not winning the Stanley Cup: We went to two Stanley Cup finals. We should have won in '71. I was on the ice for Henri Richard's big goal. It still hurts to this day. In '71 we had the talent to win.
On the Blackhawks' recent playoff drought: I put a lot of onus on the players that go out there and play. I'll tell you one thing about the Wirtz family. Missing the playoffs these past few years has been devastating to them.
On Brian Sutter: He has a talent to get into people's hearts and minds and can motivate them for games. I knew it when I played against him. The emotion that flows from his body into other people's bodies makes you want to do it.
Play golf?: Yes. I love it.
Any holes in one?: I was playing with Keith Brown and Randy Hundley at a course called Seven Bridges. They were having a big Michael Jordan tournament there the next day. Well, we get to a par-3 and I knock it in! I turn around and there's a brand new car sitting near the tee. A couple of people next to it said, "Do that during the tournament tomorrow and you win this."
Dear Booger-gross,
What do you think of Wendel Clark's chances of getting into the Hall of Fame?
Steve Matthes
Remember the quote from former Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart concerning pornography? "I know it when I see it." The Wendel Clark question has me locked in brain freeze, like when you drink a Dairy Queen Mr. Misty too fast. In 1986-87, Clark had 37 goals and 29 fighting majors!!! That's the tiebreaker for me. He's in.
John,
I have a pointless question for you to help take your mind off all the make up and hair spray...Are your glasses for real, or are you going for the suave, sophisticated look? I have a friend that does that.
Jason
Avs fan
I am near sighted. But, I think I'll take my glasses off when I visit Denver so I don't have to look at your self-absorbed, phony friend who chooses to live his life behind a mask of insecurity...."Excuse me, can I get more eye shadow over here, and Melrose could use a facial."
John,
What is your take on the five best and five worst logos in the NHL?
Isaac
Isaac, loved you on the Love Boat, dog. I truly don't think there are any BAD logos in the NHL. Personally, I wouldn't be comfortable with a cartoon duck on my chest and it's difficult to capture the personality of a 100 m.p.h. weather disaster like a hurricane on a hockey sweater. As far as the best? Wow, very difficult. But, here it goes: 1, Blackhawks; 2, Red Wings; 3, Avalanche; 4, Bruins; 5, Canadiens.
Mr. B,
The NHL should have an award that automatically goes to the defenseman with the most points. Call it the Robert Gordon Orr award. Then the NHL can hand out the Norris Trophy for the best defenseman, regardless of point production.
Rob Blaufeder
Cranford, N.J.
John,
If you were stuck on a savage, cold and hockey-loving island and your only way off was to beat the extremely skilled natives at a game of hockey, and they let you pick any five skaters in the world and one goalie. Who would you pick and why?
Ian
Buffalo, N.Y.
1. Mike Modano: A two-way center is a must on life-depending pond hockey.
2. Joe Thornton: Even the natives can't move him off the puck.
3. Jarome Iginla: Like Thornton, skill and savagery. Warriors needed against savages.
4. Zdeno Chara: The tallest player in NHL history will make the natives restless.
5. Brian Leetch: Clutch is everything in life. The kind of guy I would want with the puck if my life depended on it.
6. Patrick Roy: I don't care if I ever golf with him or eat dinner with him, but I'd pick him to get me off that damn island so I can do both.
John,
I was watching some bloopers show and during one part of the show I saw YOU. You were doing ESPNews and your chair was sinking underneath you.
Victor Ku
My network television debut. That was one of those Dick Clark blooper deals. I signed a waiver form for them to use it and I was supposed to get like 50 bucks. Still haven't seen it. Must have gone toward Dick's latest face lift.
John,
When and how did Ray Ferraro get his nickname "Chicken Parm?"
Paul Alati
This question still trickles in almost every week. Coming in February 2002: The Legend of Chicken Parm.
Hey John,
I've got one gripe about Detroit being an "Original Six" team. This has been bugging me since I discovered the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Pirates were the third American team to get an NHL franchise behind the Bruins and N.Y. Americans back in 1925. It's irritating!
John
John,
Snubbing Sergei Gonchar like that in your Top 5 Norris list should be grounds to put you in front of a tribunal at Gitmo.
Erik
John,
Can you do an interview with Marco Sturm of the Sharks? My 14-month-old son was born right after he scored an overtime goal. My wife got so excited that the Sharks won that the baby popped right out!
Steven Rayburn
Stars and Sharks fan in OKC
Marco Sturm ... The Inducer!
John Buccigross is the host of NHL2Night, which airs Tuesday-Saturday on ESPN2. His e-mail address -- for questions, comments or cross checks -- is john.buccigross@espn.com.
| |
|
TOONS ON ICE Hockey (
