Long-time Hockey person Roger Neilson passed away this morning, the day of the NHL draft.

It’s hard to explain how important Neilson was to hockey — not just a successful coach for a number of teams over 25 years, his most memorable probably Vancouver, where he waved a white towel after a series of calls went against his team (that towel is the precursor to the playoff towels used throughout the league today). he revolutionized hockey in many ways: he was one of the first to realize the potential of video for scouting and analysis; he was one of the coaches who revolutionized defensive play in the league (and invented the trap, although the trap on its own isn’t a problem, the way some teams implement it give it a reputation as boring.)

In 2002, he was invited into the hockey hall of fame as a builder. While many of us call the Builders wing the Hall of Self-Congratulation, Neilson was a great builder of hockey and well-deserved to be there. Earlier this year, Ottawa allowed him to coach a game which gave him his 1,000th career win as a coach.

He ran youth and development camps in Ontario every year, but he also has run a camp in Israel as well. As much as he loved hockey and winning, his real love was teaching and working with kids.

I don’t say this lightly, but I think Neilson deserves to have an award named after him. I hereby suggest that the NHL and the Hockey Hall of Fame create the Roger Neilson award, to be given annually to the person most active in the development of hockey. The league already has the Patrick award for development of US hockey, and the Clancy for leadership. Nothing would serve Neilson’s memory better than an award that represents what Neilson was all about: making hockey better, and bringing hockey to people of all levels, in all places. As a way to bring recognition to grass-root efforts across the continent and overseas, it would serve to continue the work that Neilson started, and do so with honor.

it’s somehow fitting that Neilson passed away on draft day, the day a new generation of kids graduate into the ranks of pro hockey.

to you from failing hands we pass the torch be yours to hold it high

Meant to cover some of the building news from the town hall meeting. The quality of the ice is still a key concern, and quality (or lack of it) are not for lack of trying. There seemed to be implicit (but not explicit) comment that the building would be colder next year. At one point jokes were made about “wilson brother’s sweatshirt night”, that sort of thing. The group was humourously polled how cold the building had to get before people would complain. They basically stopped about 40 degrees when they realized nobody was saying “too cold” yet (I found that interesting as far as the audience went, and I think it was noted by the panel)

One area that also was affected by the netting was the Jumbotron, and Jamison said they were investigating (but didn’t guarantee) upgrading it with new video boards with roughly double the density, which would make for a much improved picture.

Near and dear to my heart (and ears) was hearing (finally) that work on the arena audio system is happening. They acknowledged strong and dead areas, and some work is evidently going to happen to reposition some speakers and try to improve this. It was also noted after a couple of “TOO LOUD” comments from the crowd that they did tune it down about 20% last season, but I got the feeling this was an area that was going to be watched. it was noted that Jason Minsky is no longer with the team, and Steve Maroni is now in charge as Director of Event Presentation (and the sharks have even updated their web site! wow! yippee! Oh, sorry…)

Using de-ionized water was one thing being investigated for the ice. So were installing dehumidifiers, since they seem to think it’s the humidity that’s the worst problem. it was also noted that the Sharks don’t skate much at the arena other than games, and I got the implication that Ron Wilson was interested in changing that, but it was never really said. Building availability will be an issue there, as well as the practice facility, but one way you harden ice is to skate on it and compress it….

(FWIW, it’s a very quiet summer at the Tanq, not a lot of light dates this summer right now… that might cause them to try for more falls/winter dates, to try to keep revenue up. they were also hoping for one more arena football game….)

Parking: season ticket holders will pay the same as last year if you bought the package. day of game parking they couldn’t guarantee would stay the same, but it’s undecided. It’s been noted prices have only gone up twice in ten years for parking (but that was 7 to 10, 10 to 13, so each jump was pretty steep), but at the same time, I’ll note their parking is competitive with other venues.

Radio: discussions about the coverage of radio went on. The Sharks noted that they had a good station lined up for the east bay last season, and at the very last minute, it got sold, changed formats, and didn’t want their broadcasts any more, leaving them hung out to dry with no real alternative (Note to greg jamison: if nothing else, you got all of the bad things out of the way in one season, no?). East bay coverage is a focus this year (again), and one they’re very aware of and working to solve.

Finally, I find this on the sharks web site interesting. Anyone want to guess what it might mean?

down at the bottom, under Miscellaneous:

Television Play-By-Play Broadcaster Randy Hahn
Television Color Analyst Drew Remenda
Radio Play-By-Play Broadcaster Dan Rusanowsky
Radio Color Analyst Pete Stemkowski
Radio Hockey Analyst TBD

Looks to me like there’s a roster spot waiting to be filled. Hmm. If Pete’s still around as the color guy, one can only assume the hockey analyst is the position being held for — some ex–player? That was was Zettler and Granato were doing, so it looks like adding in that third voice is going to continue. One can only wonder who it might be…. I have some thoughts, obviously, but I’m not going to curse them or make you think I want them to retire… It may stay open until after camp, even… (hey, laurie, send them a resume! If you don’t get that, they have a job open for Alternate Governor and CFO!)

(also, Danny Miller is listed as the only game host, no sign of the blond woman who was working with him late last season. I consider that a hopeful sign — she was rough early, pretty much had the role figured out by the end, but I find her voice wrong for that job in the arena. Maybe if they retuned her mike or something, but she’s too screechy for my tastes)

A couple of other people were called out for introduction in the crowd during the Town Hall:

Ken Sweezey was introduced as Director of Guest Services. If you’re unhappy at a game, he’s your guy. Laurie and I know him just enough to know he’s pretty cool and interested in getting things fixed. I expect by the end of the season he’ll see us and run…. (grin)

Michael Lehr was introduced quickly. He’s president of the Cleveland Barons, and as Greg Jamison noted, Lehr was very good at keeping them informed about what was going on in Cleveland, especially as the injuries went insane and the team turned into an ECHL team (side note: Roy Sommers was given a strong vote of confidence for his work there last year in the face of amazing adversity — at one point 11 people on the injured list and only one AHL-rostered defenseman. They were very happy with how that place held together as well as it did, and with how the players reacted adn fought through the problems….)

David Pollack was introduced from the mercury, so he could agree with everyone else that hockey coverage in the bay area sucked (well, he was more polite than that). The suggestion (from Greg Jamison) was if you want that improved, you need to write the editors at the Merc, and keep letting them know you don’t like what they’re doing.

Finally, Greg Jamison introduced Matt Levine, who was formerly Vice President of Development for the Sharks. Matt is one of the key people involved in making sure the Sharks actually got to San Jose, and spent many years working for them building the relationships into the region. A couple of years ago he went off to help found a startup for educational software, but he still hangs around the Tanq. Matt was one of the first people (along with Ken Arnold) to take the internet seriously with the Sharks and see some of the opportunities, and the person who really first took this list seriously as a group of people interested and involved with the team, and was willing to work with us and listen to us over the years. If I had a dissapointment with the meeting, it was that ALL OF YOU PEOPLE WOULDN’T SHUT UP so Laurie and I had to leave before the meeting ended, and that kept us from tracking Matt down and saying hello. (so, matt, if you’re out there, “Hello! let’s do dinner at George’s some time, my treat!”)

(big grin on the wouldn’t shut up part, in case it wasn’t obvious…..)

And with that, a good time was had by all…

By my estimate, 900 people were there, +-100. Greg Jamison, Doug Wilson, Ron wilson, Mike Ricci and occasional others sat up on a podium. Drew moderated, or tried to, or whatever it is Drew does. the Sharks supplied soft drinks and munchies, which probably meant the thing was going to run on until they ran out… (grin).

Seriously, Jamison opened it by saying they’d stay until every question was answered, and they were clearly going to do that. Most questions were very reasonable, many were tough, all but a few fair. More on that later, and I’m sure others will have their notes. The Sharks sat there and took it, answered things as completely as they could, ducked as little as necessary (mostly things like tampering rules or tipping their hands at the draft, or dealing with the CBA, where the league rules got in the way).

I was impressed — by the sharks, for doing this and being open and honest about it; by the fans for not pulling punches, and very often proving how astute they were about what was going on; by the chemistry I saw between wilson and wilson and jamison; by wilson’s ability to match Drew smart-ass remark for smart-ass remark;

It took 2 hours for someone to smack rathje, and he seemed pretty well smacked back; 2 and a half hours for the nets to come up, which I think surprised everyone — but once they did, it got covered thoroughly and without any pulling of punches on either side (Jamison’s comments basicaly boiled down to “we had a vendor who made us look like complete idiots by not doing what they said they’d do”). The expectation he set was that things would be better; he didn’t pretend that miracles would occur, and he also said he felt there’d be a third generation of nets that would be more of an improvement down the road, also.

It sounds like this year’s marketing theme will be “this is a hockey game: bring a sweater”. But at the same time, don’t expect miracles, either. they’re still working on ways to improve the ice consistently, including deionized water and installing dehumidifiers. But a colder building seems to have strong support among the fans there, and that message seemed to be noted.

A couple of other thoughts on the hockey side of things.

They were very tactful and complimentary about both Darryl Sutter and Dean Lombardi. Their view is you learn from autopsies, not dwell on them (i.e., figure out what happened and move on). There was no knocking the past, and some work reminding folks how far forward the team was brought by these guys.

If you were a fan of classic Blackhawks hockey, you’ll love the Sharks. I kept waiting for Wilson to announce he was bringing Probert and Dirk Graham out of retirement, with McLaren playing the part of Chris Chelios. In all honesty, this attitude doesn’t bother me one bit, either (yippee). If this is the case, then I guess Alex Korolyuk is going to be Stan Mikita…

For those that aren’t aware of what I’m suggesting, it’s a team that plays very aggressively early, both to pressure the other team and to get the home crowd into the game, to use the crowd’s energy later. The first ten minutes of a hawk’s game used to be key to their performance, especially in the old building. it’s a physical game but not a stupid game, aggressive, heavy forecheck.

Wilson and Wilson emphasized becoming a faster team, both by having faster skaters and by skaters who anticipate better and reacting faster.

Doug Wilson emphasized more than once that what happened to Brad Stuart (his concussion) disgusted him, the Sharks lack of “dealing with it” really bothered him, and he was going to make sure that the Sharks roster had what it took to make sure that never happened again. he refused to go into details on what that meant (both because of tampering with naming players and fines for outright saying he was going to buy a goon), but you can read between the lines. There will be a place who can play policeman on the Sharks this year, and it seems as long as Doug is GM, there’ll be a place for one.

Wilson talked about Owen Nolan, and admitted he felt that the ultimate failure was making him Captain. he noted that there hadn’t been a Cup winning team with a power forward as captain in 25 years, and that the physical demands of that type of game on top of the demands put on someone being captain are just too much. he also came out and said that in retrospect, he should have done something about this within the organization before LAST season and didn’t, to his regret.

Doug was asked about the lack of a power forward with Nolan gone, and what the Sharks would do about it. Wilson responded by pointing at Scott Thornton, and made it clear he felt thornton’s game was still evolving. He made it sound to me like he expected thornton to be a top-six-forward caliber power forward (which makes him an amazing steal; hell, he’s an amazing steal NOW) — and from what I’ve seen of Thornton’s growth here, I can’t say he’s wrong. Wilson then pointed to Jonathon Cheechoo as a player with a distinct edge, which I took to mean he saw Cheechoo as the next generation behind Thornton.

They were asked what they were going to do with “too many” (7) centers, and Ron wilson laughed, noting that forwards can be moved to wing without a lot of problem and improve the team there, since it adds creativity and defensive awareness into those positions, not to mention more faceoff capability. It was noted from the playoffs just how important faceoffs are, and while the Sharks are okay, he wants them better.

There were some that made the assumption that Mike Ricci being invited on the panel implied that he was going to be the next Captain. When that was put to the panel, they all walked carefully around the issue and said it wasn’t decided, but to me, fully left the impression that once it is decided, it’ll be decided that Ricci is captain.

There was some talk about the kids — they say a bunch of kids are coming into camp with the attitude that nobody’s going to send them down, which they like. they also went out of their way to point out that nobody has jobs (shades of, I think, Jeff Jillson), and not all of them will get jobs no matter how good they play.

When asked about the lack of shorthanded threat, Ron wilson noted he had to teach them to keep the puck out of the net first.

The team, as was sketched out by the sharks last night boils down to:

Fast, puck control oriented. Defensively solid, heavy emphasis on fundamentals. Ron Wilson noted that he felt five of the D expected to be on the roster this year were guys he felt comfortable releasing to join the offense, and he saw that as a huge advantage. A physical team, but I got the feeling it won’t be a grinder team.

There were strong indications they’re planning on adding a top-six forward on top of Korolyuk, plus the enforcer. They made it clear they aren’t interested in three years out, and would have no problem trading up or down in the draft, or trading picks and/or players to get the right guy for now. they felt there were really good players that were going to be available into the 2nd round, and the top 12-15 are top talents.

Major support of Rathje, both on the panel and in the audience — and yet they still noted that they felt he needed to take his game up another level still. As good as he is, he still needs to be better.

When asked why the team didn’t seem to shoot enough on the power play, Wilson offered to let the person come down and talk to the players, noting he’d brought that up once or twice and it didn’t seem to have sunk in. Both Ron and Doug wilson have a philosophy of “if there’s no hole to shoot through, make one”, but he also noted one problem here is the power play tends to practice against the penalty kill, and the guys have some mental problems over injuring one of their own teammates (that’s not a bad thing, actually). I considered suggesting hiring the SJSU team for practice but I kept my mouth shut… (the SJSU team thanks me for that). Both wilsons say that if the other team wants to get leg injuries stopping point shots, that’s fine with them…

wilson noted his philosophy was that the negotiation was a three-way, with the player actively involved. As an ex-player, he also noted that the agents were more willing to let him do this, and in fact he was demanding that players heard it directly from Wilson, not filtered through the agent. It needs to be remembered that Lombardi wasn’t always allowed this access to the player, or didn’t push that agenda strongly enough at times. Wilson’s also made it clear he feels it’s both his AND the player’s responsibility to make sure they’re in camp when it opens, not just Wilson’s, and that a player who misses camp is hurting his team and the teammates. Interesting spin on things. The team can’t take advantage of that, though; he really called it out as a partnership.

I was mostly trying to get a feeling for what their philosophy was on the type of team they want and how they want that team to play. I’m not surprised to hear Wilson reaching back to his Hawks roots for some of it, and frankly, I’m really, really encouraged here. It was fascinating to listen to Doug Wilson as GM talk about the job and mentally compare it to Dean Lomabardi. I don’t know how to describe that without sounding exceptionally negative about Lombardi, when in fact that’s not what I intend, so I’ll keep mulling that one over.

The other thing I was trying to get a feel on was chemistry — towards the end, relations were strained between Jamison and Lombardi and Sutter, and all three seemed to have different ideas of how to move forward that conflicted with the other two. it seemed to me all three got along well and there was a lot of humorous bantering (to the point where Drew had trouble getting his snide comments in — it’s hard to keep drew out of a discussion!); my feel was they all were comfortable with each other and work well together. A good sign. They’re also all very personable, and Ron Wilson will never been known as bitter beer face around here (in fact, I think one of the reasons he gets knocked by some is he doesn’t take himself all that seriously, and isn’t afraid to make fun of himself or other things, or throw out a zinger at someone — but don’t mistake taking something seriously iwth being serious…)

I came back feeling, in all honesty, really jazzed about next year. It’s a new, fresh direction, they seem to have the roster under control and working to get everyone in shape, in camp, and moving in the same direction. Talking to some of the folks I knew off the podium, there’s a large contingent of players staying in the area and working their butts off to get ready, adn in the words of these folks, these guys want camp open NOW.

I’ll have more later, I’m sure, but that’s what I took from the talk. They didn’t tell me things were going to get better, they made me believe they would be. I’m ready.

when’s camp open?

The Devils won game 5, as I expected, but honestly, somewhat more decisively than I expected. Neither goalie looked good, the Devils fed off the crowd and took advantage of having last change, and the Ducks just didn’t look sharp.

Not surprisingly, the first goal went to the Ducks, on a clean faceoff win by Oates. We’ve seen THAT before. New Jersey is just in deep trouble in the left face-off circle of the offensive zone without Niewyndyk.

Now we go back to Anaheim. New jersey is going to be desperate, and knows how to win in pressure situations. Anaheim has the home crowd and last change advantage. I expect another tough fight, with Anaheim winning.

Then off to game 7 in New Jersey, and who knows? The Devils have shown Anaheim they’ll have trouble there, but Anaheim still can beat them on the road.

New Jersey is the more tired team, but Anaheim lacks the experience.

Paul Kariya is still missing in action. Hello, Paul? Now’s a good time to break out and not depend on Steve Thomas to win games.

too close to call the series at this point. And both teams have earned respect in it. great hockey, for the four of us watching it.

I was a little worried there, but the Ducks have tied the series 2-2, so the Stanley cup final is going at least six games. Two straight overtime games, tonight’s win 1-0, and now the ducks have the momentum going back to New Jersey.

Those folks who’ve turned off (ABC ratings are lower for hockey’s final round than Arena Football) are missing some intense hockey. Low scoring doesn’t imply bad, but some folks think so. I’m impressed with both teams.

Watching post game interviews tells us where this series is going: the Ducks are talking about chemistry, about special things happening in the locker room. the Devils look broken, look beaten. Talk about regrouping.

Right now, New Jersey’s advantage is two games at home. But they have to be thinking they can’t win in Anaheim, so they have to think about sweeping games 5 and 7. Anaheim hasn’t won in New Jersey, but goes into game 5 thinking all it needs is one game in the swamp, and they’ve won two straight.

I think this one probably goes 7 — New Jersey wins game 5, and anaheim at home in six. And after that? crapshoot. But emotion and momentum are goin the Ducks way, so they have to be considered a slight favorite right now. But until they break serve, it’s far from over.