Fan Activity During the NHL Lockout

December 29, 2012 by 1 Comment

Nail Yakupov playing for HC Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk of the KHL.Source: KHL.ru

Oilers 2012 first round pick, Nail Yakupov lighting it up for HC Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk of the KHL .
Source: KHL.ru

To say the past four months of negotiations between the NHL and the NHLPA has been an embarrassment is a major understatement. It’s been difficult for hockey fans to watch the game being dragged through the mud as both the NHL owners and the NHLPA stand at a stalemate, waiting for the right deal to suddenly appear. How any professional sports league can allow this to happen is mind-boggling, as one would think that the fans and the long-term success of the league would motivate both parties to find a solution. The labor negotiations have revealed the flawed business model of the  NHL, yet fans remain optimistic and hopeful the season can be salvaged.

The thing that doesn’t make sense to me, is how oblivious the NHL and the NHLPA are to their fans activity during the lockout. Throughout the labor negotiations, fans have been diminished to nothing more than a revenue source, whose financial contributions to the game are being fought over by the owners and the players.

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The New York Islanders, the Barclays Center, and the politics of sport arenas: Winners and losers in the “Battle for Brooklyn”

October 24, 2012 by 4 Comments

Image from: http://cdn.bleacherreport.net/images_root/article/media_slots/photos/000/551/305/BarclaysCenter038_original.jpg?1348157049

The New York Islanders are moving to Brooklyn. When the Islanders faceoff in their first game of the 2014-15 2015-16 NHL season, it will mark an exciting day for the franchise as the team celebrates its move to a new arena in a new part of town. What Islanders players and fans may not know is that the opening faceoff will be taking place on the exact spot where, less than 10 years earlier, former Brooklyn residents lived before being forcibly evicted by the State of New York to allow a billionaire to construct the Barclays Center.

While fans of the Islanders may celebrate the end of constant discussions about the future of the Islanders, and while owner Charles Wang may welcome the possibility of expanding his team’s brand into the hip and gentrifying borough of Brooklyn, it is also important to consider the politics behind this move and the arena that the Islanders will now be calling home. This post examines the history of the Barclays Center, and the social movement of Brooklyn residents who tried, but failed, to save their homes and businesses from being seized to construct the arena, in light of the political significance of professional sport in the borough.

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Fringe Players and the “absolute nonsense” of NHL Migration

October 14, 2012 by Leave a comment

Alexander Ovechkin. Photo from RT.com

Yahoo Sports recently released an article titled, NHL players on the move to Europe during lockout, touching briefly on the fact that with NHLers moving over to play in the KHL and other European leagues a debate has started about how many players are forced out of their day jobs.  Jaromir Jagr is quoted in the article stating, “That’s absolute nonsense. You can believe me that young players now have somebody to learn from. I doubt that I would have ever reached my hockey level if I hadn’t had players such as Paul Coffey and Mario Lemieux around me.  I learned from them everyday.” Well, okay. That’s one way to look at it Jaromir.

Fringe and two-way players have been discussed in relation to the lockout briefly by other HIS bloggers but I would like to venture further with the topic.  What Jagr says isn’t necessarily incorrect – I’m sure many players’ games improve because of the presence of “the world’s finest”.  But I believe the formerly-mulletted one has missed the point.  Now, anyone who knows me knows that math is far from my forte but I do understand that sports and teams are numbers games.  A team can only have so many players.  A bench can only fit so many butts. Payroll can only sign so many cheques. Therefore, simple math dictates that if Ovechkin, Malkin, Chara, Kovalchuk and friends join Dynamo, Lev Praha, and SKA St. Petersburg there are other who will not get the opportunity to suit up.  Sports, as much as we lament it sometimes, is a business.  The KHL and others are not in the habit of keeping players around to learn from Ovi so that when he leaves they can pick up where he left off.  Having Malkin on the ice now means more money through the gate now.  Who plays tomorrow is not necessarily on today’s to-do list.  Therefore, math has determined that some players will have to find some other way to pay the bills.

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Roundtable: Weighing in on the NHL Lockout

October 1, 2012 by 1 Comment

Image from: http://www.cbc.ca/gfx/images/sports/photos/2012/09/13/bettman-fehr_940-8col.jpg

We are pleased to introduce the first Hockey in Society Roundtable, a new feature at Hockey in Society. Roundtables will present brief commentaries from Hockey in Society contributors on pressing or timely issues within hockey and its culture, with the aim of presenting a diverse range of critical viewpoints on the topic under discussion.

Simon Darnell – “Cartel Contradictions”

The current NHL lockout – like most labour disputes in professional sports – is so off-putting for the ways that it co-opts us into caring about a fight between the extraordinarily rich. This is ‘Billionaires vs. Millionaires,’ goes the familiar refrain, and the average fan is alienated given how impossible it is to relate to the stand-off.

Still, this doesn’t stop fans from trying to do just that. For example, if you read the comments posted on any e-story of the lockout over the past few weeks (I know, but I can’t help myself), you undoubtedly read something like this:

“Imagine if you owned a company and the employees took home 57% of the revenue. You wouldn’t stand for it!”

Followed shortly thereafter by something like:

“Yeah, well imagine if your boss gave you a raise and then demanded it back three months later!”

Applying real-world labour politics to the lockout in this way would seem to be a logical heuristic exercise, save for one important detail: The ‘real-world’ doesn’t apply here. In fact, the enduring legacy of the lockout should be to remind all of us 9-5ers of how dramatically far removed we are from the labour structures of professional hockey.

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One year later, remembering Lokomotiv Yaroslavl

September 7, 2012 by Leave a comment

A memorial to the victims of the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl crash (Image from Wikipedia)

One year ago today, an airplane carrying the players, coaches, and training staff of KHL team Lokomotiv Yaroslavl crashed immediately after a failed takeoff. Of the 45 people on board, including the pilots and flight staff, 43 were dead on site. One surviving player, Alexander Galimov, died in hospital shortly afterward, leaving crew member Alexander Sizov as the lone survivor from the crash.

There are rare moments when human tragedy or triumph seemingly trumps, temporarily at least, the many problematic aspects of sport. The KHL is a highly political league given its ties to the Vladimir Putin (he has referred to the KHL as “an instrument of Russian foreign policy“) regime and the heavily influence of the Russian oligarchs who made their fortunes preying on the ruins of state run Soviet industry (for example, oil companies Gazprom and Rosneft own KHL teams SKA St. Petersburg and CSKA Moscow, respectively). The league is certainly fraught with problems, as, of course, is its North American counterpart the NHL. However, the Lokomotiv tragedy temporarily pushed those concerns aside and united hockey fans across the globe, many of whom had never previously heard of the team, in awe and sorrow.

Many fans in North America found personal connection to the tragedy through the players who had played for their favourite NHL teams before plying their trade in Russia. Names like Brad McCrimmon, Igor Korolev, Pavol Demitra, Ruslan Salei, and Alexander Karpotsev were immediately familiar to countless NHL fans and gave a known human face to the shocking tragedy. Coming at the end of a summer in which NHLers Rick Rypien, Wade Belak and Derek Boogaard all passed away through suicide or accidental overdose, the Lokomotiv crash carried particular gravitas as the bookend to a summer that shook many fans and members of the hockey community.

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Weekly Links: NHLPA and owners begin CBA negotiations; Social media and hockey analytics; Plans for new arena in Markham

June 30, 2012 by Leave a comment

Proposed Markham arena (Image from: http://www.cbc.ca/)

Welcome to Hockey in Society’s Weekly Links post. This feature highlights articles or blog entries that are related to Hockey in Society’s areas of interest and that may be of interest to the site’s readers.

Hockey Links

  • Lots of chatter about the discussion between NHL owners the NHL Players’ Association as they begin to negotiate a new Collective Bargaining Agreement. David Shoalts has a good overview of the key issues in this negotiation. [Globe and Mail]
  • Meanwhile, Kukla’s Corner has the details of the NHLPA’s 31-man negotiating committee. Lots of prominent players are involved on the committee, including Henrik Zetterberg (Red Wings), Shane Doan (Phoenix Coyotes), Shea Weber (Nashville Predators, and John Tavares (New York Islanders). [Kukla's Corner]
  • Hockey in Society contributor Sunil Agnihotri discusses information overload in the digital age, with specific discussion of the various ways in which hockey fans can consume the sport through (new) media. [Super Fan. 2.0]
  • More social media news: the Detroit Red Wings are hosting a social media meet-up at the Social Media Day Detroit conference. [Kukla's Corner]
  • Daniel Wagner reports on “the next stage in hockey analytics,” discussing an advanced stats tracking system that is becoming popular in the NBA. [Backhand Shelf]
  • The plans for the new hockey arena in Markham, ON have been released. The 20,000+ seat arena is aiming to open 2014 and hoping to host the 2015 World Junior Championships. [TSN]
  • Bruce Dowbiggen reports that the NHL is considering adding a Sunday night Canadian broadcast in addition to the traditional Saturday Hockey Night in Canada broadcast. This may mean that the CBC maintains the HNIC rights while TSN and Sportsnet have the opportunity to broadcast more games featuring Canadian teams. [Globe and Mail]
  • An interesting post by Greg Wyshinki about Sidney Crosby’s new 12-year contract with the Pittsburgh Penguins, and how the team is unable to insure it because of Crosby’s concussion history. [Puck Daddy]
  • Pete Cunningham writes about the anticipated economic impact of the 2013 Winter Classic for Ann Arbor businesses. The game between the Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs will take place on January 1, 2013. [AnnArbor.com]
  • Patrick Hoffman with an interesting look at hockey participation and popularity in sunbelt states, including some interesting tidbits about the support NHL hockey teams have given to local hockey teams. The Nashville Predators, for example, were active in the movement to save the University of Alabama-Hunstsville Division 1 NCAA hockey program. [Kukla's Corner]
  • The KHL confirms that it will play two regular season games in 2013 in Brooklyn, New York. SKA St. Petersburg and Dynamo Moscow will face off at the new Barclays Arena. [Puck Daddy]
  • The Phoenix Coyotes sale looks set to move ahead, as a court overturns the lawsuit by the Goldwater Institute to stymie Glendale’s subsidization of the Coyotes’ arena. Lots of politics in this arena situation. [Puck Daddy]
  • I hope to write more about this on this blog, but I wrote a post at Nucks Misconduct about Pavel Bure and his legacy with the Vancouver Canucks. The post is not particularly critical, but more of a fan’s look at the player. However, there are some interesting aspects to the story. Bure, who was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame this week, had a turbulent departure from Vancouver that involved some character assassination in the media. An interesting example of the power of the media to shape popular understandings of a player and his/her legacy. [Nucks Misconduct]

General Sport Links

  • AWESOME BLOG ALERT: Tyler Shipley has started a new blog called Left Hook, which takes a critical look at different aspects of sport. You can read Tyler’s excellent post about the politics between Canada and Honduras and the role of soccer in Honduran politics. [Left Hook]
  • Also on Left Hook: Marty Clark, who co-authored a review of Goon on this blog, examines and critiques assumed “truths” in sport and discusses way of deconstructing these “common sense” understandings. A great read. [Left Hook]
  • Hockey in Society contributor Courtney Szto discusses the gender implications of nude athlete calendars, as Canada’s National Senior Women’s Rugby team releases a fundraising calendar. Are these portrayals empowering or exploitative? Should national sport teams have to resort to nude calendars to raise funds? Lots of interesting questions explored in this post. [The Rabbit Hole]
  • Saudi Arabia will, for the first time, allow women to compete at the Olympic Games. [Globe and Mail]

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Weekly Links: Reactions to “While the Men Watch” and reflections on hockey media; US participation rates rising; New arenas in Detroit, Edmonton, and Seattle

June 3, 2012 by Leave a comment

Image from: http://media.avclub.com/images/articles/article/75/75805/20120530_WWTM_jpg_627x325_crop_upscale_q85.jpg

Welcome to Hockey in Society’s Weekly Links post. This feature highlights articles or blog entries that are related to Hockey in Society’s areas of interest and that may be of interest to the site’s readers.

[Note:Sorry folks, I have again been behind on these Weekly Links posts. I will continue to try to get them up each week, but please bear with me right now if they are posted somewhat irregularly.]

Hockey Links

  • There has been no shortage of reaction in the blogosphere to the CBC’s new venture, While the Men Watch, including Courtney Szto’s initial reactions and review of the show on this blog. I will do a separate roundup of these reactions, but in the meantime here are some excellent posts by Ellen Etchingham, Cassie McLellan, and Julie Veilleux respectively. [Backhand Shelf; Raw Charge; Puck Daddy]
  • Great post from Cam Charron about the monopoly on sports expertise by ex-players or entrenched media members, how it partly explains the slow uptake on advanced statistics by NHL personnel, and how the blogosphere (thankfully!) offers a wide variety of ways for fans to understand and conceptualize hockey. [Backhand Shelf]
  • Speaking of advanced statistics and new media: Please do check out Sunil Agnihotri’s excellent blog, Super Fan 2.0. His work uses sociocultural theory to examine issues related to new media and hockey fandom. As someone who is also interested in this area, I find his work fascinating and insightful. Give it a look yourself! [Super Fan 2.0]
  • Chris Peters reports that hockey participation in the US has risen to nearly 595,000, and examines some of the reasons for this increase in various areas, including sunbelt NHL markets. [United States of Hockey]
  • Daniel Wegner debunks Don Cherry’s jingoistic (and excessively pro-Ontario) rehtoric about the players needed by teams that enjoy success in the postseason. [Backhand Shelf]
  • Wayne Gretzky would like to see the Conn Smythe Trophy, awarded to the NHL’s playoff MVP, renamed after Montreal Canadiens legend Jean Beliveau. [TSN]
  • The KHL continues its global empire building, announcing plans to play regular season games at the new Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NYC. [Puck Daddy]
  • Canadian media giant Rogers may attempt to snatch the rights to Hockey Night in Canada away from the CBC. A potentially sad day for Canada’s public broadcaster. [The Province]
  • Matt Hendricks of the Washington Capitals is the latest hockey player to support the You Can Play project, which targets homophobia in hockey. [Dump 'N Chase]
  • The World Junior Championships proved to be a cash cow for Hockey Canada and the province of Alberta, bringing in revenues of $22 million. [TSN]
  • The Red Wings press ahead with plans to build a new arena in downtown Detroit, hiring an architect to begin designs. The arena, if built, will replace the Joe Louis Arena, which opened in 1979. [Detroit News]
  • More arena news: Greg Wyshynski updates Seattle’s plans for a new hockey arena and briefly touches upon the new arena that is being constructed for the Oilers in downtown Edmonton. [Puck Daddy]
  • Jamaica has been admitted to the International Ice Hockey Federation, and is aiming to ice a team at the 2018 Olympics in Pyeongchang. [Puck Daddy]
  • Finally, Ellen Etchingham explores “hockey’s complex relationship with booze.” A fascinating article. [Backhand Shelf]

General Sport Links

  • Hockey in Society’s Courtney Szto examines the efforts to curb HIV transmission during the 2012 Euro Cup in Poland and Ukraine. [The Rabbit Hole]
  • ESPN’s fascinating 3o for 30 documentary series is returning with a new slate of films. [Grantland]

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Weekly Links: Reactions to Twitter racism against Joel Ward; Examining cultures of hitting and violence in hockey; Where in the world were NHL players born?

April 29, 2012 by Leave a comment

Where NHL players were born.

Welcome to Hockey in Society’s Weekly Links post. This feature highlights articles or blog entries that are related to Hockey in Society’s areas of interest and that may be of interest to the site’s readers.

Editor’s Note: Apologies for the lack of Weekly Links over the past month. It has been a very busy time personally, and I have not kept up with my posting. This Weekly Links post therefore contains some of the best reading from the past three weeks. I hope to be more diligent in my posting over the next few months!

Hockey Links

  • This is very cool: A map showing where every NHL player was born. Hover over the city and it lists the players who were born there. Am I the only one who finds the globalization of hockey a fascinating, fascinating topic? [view the map; created by @theycallmemorty; via Backhand Shelf]
  • Lots of reaction to the racist insults hurled at the Washington Capitals’ Joel Ward by Twitter users, from Harrison Mooney, Chris Peters, and Brian Floyd respectively. [Puck Daddy; United States of Hockey; SB Nation]
  • Meanwhile, Greg Ezell reflects on belonging to a Boston Bruins fan-base that is now being characterized based upon the actions of a few. [Days of Y'Orr]
  • The always thoughtful Ken Dryden discusses three hits from different eras in order to illustrate changes in hockey culture and the role of the NHL in enforcing discipline. [Globe and Mail; h/t to Luke for the link]
  • Ellen Etchingham also had a great take on the culture of hitting in the NHL. [Backhand Shelf]
  • Paul Busch with an excellent historical overview of changes in the NHL, particularly in the 1970s, which he argues established the “culture of violence” in which many of today’s NHL decision-makers (coaches, GMs, etc.) were socialized. [It's Not Part of the Game]
  • Adam Proteau with an optimistic look at the likelihood of a gay hockey player coming out in the NHL and a discussion of the You Can Play project. [The Hockey News]
  • Interesting read about the Los Angeles Kings’ attempts to market the hockey team and maintain relevance in an entertainment-saturated city. [Globe and Mail]
  • After the 2012 Women’s World Hockey Championship, in which Switzerland captured the Bronze Medal, is international women’s hockey moving closer to parity? And what steps are being taken to develop the game globally? [Globe and Mail]
  • Interesting news from the KHL. A blog post by the wife Kevin Dallman, a Canadian superstar on Barys Astana in Kazakhstan, has led to the family being kicked out of the country. Apparently the Kazakh government found the post too critical of alleged corruption in Kazakhstan. [Puck Daddy]

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Weekly Links: KHL expansion in Europe; Vancouver Canucks urge fans not to riot; NHL supplemental discipline not a deterrent?

March 31, 2012 by 3 Comments

Image from: http://www.eliteprospects.com/layout/leagues/khl.png

Welcome to Hockey in Society’s Weekly Links post. This feature highlights articles or blog entries that are related to Hockey in Society’s areas of interest and that may be of interest to the site’s readers.

Hockey Links

  • Adam Proteau criticizes the NHL’s weak supplemental discipline for failing to create deterrents to dangerous play, and calls for much harsher suspensions. [The Hockey News]
  • An interview with Doug Smith, an ECHL and AHL enforcer whose career inspired the recent film Goon. Some interesting insight into the culture of hockey enforcers and “the Code.” [Grantland]
  • The KHL is expanding to Prague, Czech Republic for the upcoming season… [Puck Worlds]
  • … while a Slovakian club, Slovan HC of Bratislava, is also being considered for admittance to the KHL, as the league continues its aggressive European expansion. [KHL]
  • Bruce Dowbiggen discusses the CBC’s search for a new Executive Producer for Hockey Night in Canada. Interesting stuff given the context of Conservative cuts to the CBC and the possibility of the network losing its NHL broadcast rights after the 2013-14 season. [Globe and Mail]
  • Very interesting post by a Colorado Avalanche blogger seeking press credentials to cover the team, particularly in light of the fact that only one newspaper in Denver is credentialed to cover the Avalanche. He is planning to launch a summit of Avalanche bloggers to lobby for credentials. [Jerseys and Hockey Love]
  • The City of Vancouver has released alternative plans for the Vancouver Canucks playoff run, eschewing the downtown street party that was the epicentre for the Stanley Cup Final riot in favour of neighbourhood celebrations. [Puck Daddy; The Globe and Mail]
  • The Canucks also produced a video urging fans not to riot, without actually using the word “riot.” [Nucks Misconduct; Pass it to Bulis]
  • The Calgary Flames are becoming majority owners of the CFL’s Calgary Stampeders. [Globe and Mail]

General Sport Links

  • In the latest chapter of a very interesting ongoing story, 126 former NFL players have become plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the NFL that claims the league had information about the damage caused by concussions but refused to act upon it to protect players. [Shutdown Corner]
  • After years of criticism about the uniforms that female beach volleyball players are forced to wear if they want to compete, the International Volleyball Federation has relented and will allow women to wear shorts and sleeved shirts in competition. [BBC Sport]

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Weekly Links: More Reaction to Herb Carnegie’s Death; Don Cherry’s pro-Ontario Rant; KHL to Play Games in Brooklyn

March 16, 2012 by Leave a comment

Image from: http://www.cbc.ca/gfx/images/sports/photos/2012/03/10/carnegie-herb-940-cp-090605-8col.jpg

Welcome to Hockey in Society’s Weekly Links post. This feature highlights articles or blog entries that are related to Hockey in Society’s areas of interest and that may be of interest to the site’s readers.

Hockey Links

  • Earlier this week I reflected on the legacy of Herb Carnegie. Kevin van Steendelaar has a different take, criticizing the NHL for not acknowledging Carnegie’s passing: “It’s a real shame on them for missing a chance to at least slighty make a right to a terrible wrong those many years ago.” [Habs Eyes on the Prize]
  • The Globe and Mail missed the boat on publishing an obituary for Carnegie, but yesterday it finally published a Dave Shoalts piece that reflects on Carnegie’s life. [Globe and Mail]
  • James Mirtle reports that games missed due to concussions in the NHL are on the rise, although the number of concussions is around the same rate – presumably this is because of stricter precautions about returning to play. Interesting tidbit: apparently only three percent of concussions are a result of fighting. [Globe and Mail]
  • Ellen Etchingham has a good post about the 228th Battalion team, a military hockey squad that played one season in the National Hockey Association before being shipped off to fight in World War One. A very interesting historical perspective on the early links between hockey and militarism, with a brief discussion of the current state of this relationship. [Backhand Shelf]
  • Etchingham also went to bat for Don Cherry, defending him for his rant about the Toronto Maple Leafs’ lack of Ontario-born players. [Backhand Shelf]
  • Harrison Mooney, on the other hand, criticizes Cherry’s comments as “subtly prejudiced nonsense.” [Puck Daddy]
  • A few years ago, the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) launched a Champions League club competition. It only lasted one season. The federation is now looking to reinstate the competition and is beginning the process with a stakeholder summit. [TSN]
  • The KHL is planning to play regular season games in Brooklyn, at the new Barclays Center that is opening this fall. [Puck Daddy]
  • An inside look at how the LA Kings manages its various new and social media accounts. [The Sports Cortex]
  • Bruce Peter weighs in on the Alexander Radulov controversy and the politics of the NHL-KHL relationship, as the Russian superstar appears ready to make the jump back to the Nashville Predators from Salavat Yualev Ufa of the KHL. [Puck Worlds]

General Sport Links

  • Interesting article about the intrusion of Twitter into sports marketing and, more specifically, sports jerseys. [Social Media Today]
  • Dave Zirin comments on racist chants during the NCAA’s March Madness, directed from the Southern Mississippi University band toward a Puerto Rican player on Kansas State, and the event’s broader political context of anti-immigration sentiment in Mississippi. [The Nation]

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