Does Experience Equal Success?

So it’s been a while since my last post.  But my internship is over and I’ve moved back into my apartment at school. So no worries, I’m back.

A topic that has always been on my mind is: does experience really equal success in the NHL?  I remember always hearing about how young the Pens were this past season, and how they couldn’t keep up with the veterans of Detroit.  Whether that had any effect on the actual results may never be determined. But I’m going to take a closer look on the correlation of age to success.

Here are the average ages for all 30 NHL teams from last season, rated from oldest to youngest:

No Internet is a Problem

I’ve been trying to post this for a while now, but I wanted to let everyone know that posting is going to be very slow and erratic this week.  I’ve just moved in to a new house and will not have internet for at least a week.

Therefore, I apologize for the lack of content.  However, Dan will be doing his best to get pieces on the site while I’m unable to.

Get ready for more great pieces next Monday!

~Chris @ Pittsburgh Puck Talk

News Updates: August 13-14, 2008

Alright, so I’ve fallen really behind with moving in to school very soon and work and whatnot.  Therefore, this post wont be too terribly entertaining.  I think it’s important to get the news out though just in case you were craving for some NHL updates.

Instead of listing these in a sensible order, I’m just going to run through them in a chronological order of when I found them.

Groundbreaking, A Big Day in Pittsburgh

Many Penguins fans never thought this day would come…the day that we began building a new arena (Penguins.com).

Mario Lemieux, as well as many other team officials and politicians, carried out the official groundbreaking ceremony to commence building plans for the new multipurpose arena.  As easily the most influential professional athlete to ever play in Pittsburgh, the groundbreaking is just another item to add on his list of contributions to the franchise and city.

Construction on the new arena begins immediately

National TV Dates Announced

The NHL released it’s schedule of nationally televised games today. The networks carrying games are “CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada”, “NHL on TSN”, Versus and the “NHL on NBC”.

You can go here to view each network’s individual schedule.

The Penguins long playoff run managed to earn them quite a bit of national coverage. 10 games will appear on CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada, one game on “NHL on TSN”, eight on Versus and at least one on the “NHL on NBC”. NBC’s schedule is flex-scheuduled, and only two games have been officially announced.

The nationally televised games in the United States for the Pens are as follows:

Ranking the Northwest Division: Colorado

Colorado

Avalanche fans enjoyed their third straight 95-point season in a row last year, leading to a six seed in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. In the first round the Avs faced Minnesota, beating the Wild in six games. In the second round Colorado was not as fortunate. The Detroit Red Wings swept the Avalanche en route to winning the Western Conference and the Stanley Cup.

This season is one of many questions that will need to be answered. First off, will Joe Sakic play? If not, how will the team fare without the only captain it has ever had? Also, will Peter Forsberg heal and decide to return for another NHL season? If so, will they be able to reach the 95-point plateau once again?

These questions will take time to answer. But for the fun of speculation, I’ll try and settle the disputes right now.

Weekly Rant: Olympics

So this is a hockey blog. I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, so if you haven’t…now you know! But I’m not all hockey. There are other sports in the world, and I happen to enjoy them.

And being that the largest sporting event in the world is going on, the Olympics, I have some things to say. First and foremost, Michael Phelps.

News Updates: August 12, 2008

Gordon

The biggest news of the day came from the New York Islanders. GM Garth Snow made his final decision, and E.J. Hradek of ESPN.com was right. Scott Gordon will be the new head coach of the Islanders (Newsday).

As for why he was hired?

“For me, the bottom line was finding the right coach for our organization at this time,” Snow said of the coach search. “It was a rigorous interview process, extremely thorough. I don’t want any perception the other candidates weren’t qualified or weren’t good people because they were. I just found the candidate that’s the right coach for our organization. Scott Gordon really stood out.”

Snow continues:

“Any successful coach has to have great communication skills,” Snow said. “I noticed from the first handshake that we were able to communicate whether we were talking about the technical part of the game or about how to build a consistent contending team. We had a lot of the same thought processes. I think he’s going to do an outstanding job with our young players, and he will communicate well with veterans, too.”

Ranking the Northwest Division: Calgary

Calgary

I have a soft spot for the Calgary Flames. I fell in love with them, mostly their fans, when they were in the Stanley Cup Finals against the Tampa Bay Lightning. The sea of red that attends each home game is quite a spectacle to witness on television. I can’t imagine what it’s like to go to a game there.

But enough of the sappy yearning for western Canadian hockey. The Flames finished 2007-2008 with 94 points, good enough for the seventh seed in the Western Conference Playoffs. The run was short-lived, as San Jose deposited of the Flames in a hard-fought, seven-game opening-round series (how’s that for hyphens?!).

This season is a blank slate, but it appears making the playoffs will be a bit harder. Serious changes with serious implications have altered this team’s makeup.

News Updates: August 11, 2008

Lets get right to it.

This passed me by yesterday, but I felt it was still important enough to note. Brayden Schenn and the Under-18 Team Canada squad beat the Czech Republic in another exhibition to prepare for the Memorial of Ivan Hlinka tournament (NHL.com). Schenn scored two goals in the victory just days after teammate Taylor Hall netted a hat trick.

Team Canada will open tournament play Tuesday against Switzerland.