Combating Hockey Ignorance One Letter To The Editor At A Time

For those of you who don't know, I go to school in Clemson, SC which despite it's many wonderful qualities, is not exactly a hotbed of hockey activity. So imagine my surprise (and joy) when I found an article about the US men's Olympic team in the March 5th issue of The Tiger (our campus newspaper).

My initial thoughts were along these lines: Finally! Some recognition for the team in a very nontraditional market! Then I read the article (which is linked here). At this point, I was really irritated, borderline angry actually. Here was someone who probably spent as much studying the game as I do studying nuclear physics blasting a group of athletes because they were professionals!

Now my thoughts went something like this: Alright Mr. Writer, prepare to feel some hockey girl wrath. I wrote my very first ever letter to the editor (copied below) telling the author, and his superiors, just what I thought about his theory, his fact checking skills and the 2010 men's Olympic silver medalists.

I was horribly disappointed in your article “Inspiration in favor of domination”, largely due to the fact that the writer selectively chose the facts he included.

First, the NHL doesn’t allow players to “start fist fights or purposely injure someone on the other team” without consequences. Every fighter is given a 5 minute major and possibly up to an additional 12 minutes in penalties. Whether that’s an appropriate punishment is up for debate, but the fact of the matter is there are punishments and to claim otherwise is a lie. Additionally, players who intentionally injure others are penalized through fines and suspensions. The adequacy of these consequences can be debated, but that doesn’t negate the fact that they exist.

Second, every team uses professional hockey players at the Olympics. NHL players could be found on every Olympic hockey roster. This is not a case of the United States sending “dream teams” to beat up on wide-eyed amateur athletes from other countries. To imply otherwise was intentionally glossing over the facts to make a point. In addition, your claim that every player on the US team made over $1 million is yet another example of poor (or nonexistent) fact checking on your part; Jonathon Quick makes $770,000.

In conclusion, professional athletes are just as proud of their nationality as amateur athletes are. They’ve worked just as hard. They are no less deserving of being able to represent their country simply because they collect a paycheck. To answer your question about whether the US team’s success qualifies as an upset, most hockey pundits picked the US as a long shot to come in fourth let alone second. That is an upset. For them to beat Canada’s All-Star team (only 5 of their 23 players have never been selected to play in an All-Star Game as opposed to 18 of 23 Americans) whose collective salary is more than 50% higher than that of the Americans is an upset. Hate the NHL if you want. Hope for amateur players to be used in the future if that’s what you wish. But to claim the 2010 silver medalists don’t deserve the nation’s pride or respect because they are professionals is doing a disservice to the 23 men who played their hearts out for their country.

A few weeks went by and I didn't hear anything so I naturally assumed my letter had been discarded with the probably 20 or so other letters they get a week. But The Tiger had one more surprise in store for yours truly when I found my letter in this week's edition of the paper! Excuse me while I do a little happy dance!!! Woo hoo! I'm published!!!!

Now I don't harbor any delusions that my letter to the editor will make any difference to the author the next time he writes an article. I don't think for a second that the editor will sit him down and tell him to fact check every now and then. But I do have a hope that other people will come away from this with a little more hockey knowledge and a greater appreciation of what 23 men accomplished during a few cold February weeks in Vancouver.

It's a hockey miracle!!!!

Suddenly the Canadian powerhouse is just a big old pile of rubble. The rag tag bunch of second tier NHL players from the ol' US of A beat the hometown favorites in a 5-3 game that held more emotion, passion and power than any regular season NHL game (and a lot of playoff games) I've ever seen.

But they say a picture is worth a thousand words, so why don't we let the pictures do the talking?

Tee hee. In all seriousness, I almost feel bad for Brodeur. Note I said almost which means a donut joke is not out of the question, but I want to be considered a gracious winner so I will resist.

It's ok Eric. Most of America can't believe it either. :) Although I will go ahead and give you props on your goal and trying to make it easier for America by taking out some of your own teammates. Dude...focus and I don't mean on duck hunting.

No words are necessary. None.

My oh my. That place sure did empty oot quickly eh?

Ok so I couldn't resist the donut joke. I'm sorry. I'm weak...very much like a certain team's...oh never mind, that's almost as easy as scoring on Canada. Thank you ladies and gentlemen, I'll be here all week. Try the veal.

Congratulations goes out to all the members of Team USA for giving us one heck of an Olympic memory. USA!! USA!! USA!!

Gleason to Vancouver (for Olympics), Wallin to San Jose (for good-maybe)

In the department of congratulatory gushing, The Hurricane Siren would like to officially congratulate Tim Gleason for being named to the USA Olympic squad to replace the injured Mike Komisarek. Rock on Timmy, go to Vancouver and kick some butt (especially if it's Russian and toothless). We are beyond proud of you.

Some random quotes from the day that I thought were just perfect:

"He's a different player in terms of his psychological makeup -- he's more of a guy who speaks with his actions. He’s not chatty," said Burke, who worked with Gleason while GM of last summer’s American entry at the IIHF World Championship. "Your worst nightmare might be to get stuck in a fishing boat with Tim Gleason for an afternoon."

Jeez Burke, even when you're right you're wrong. I, for one, would LOVE to be stuck on a boat with Timmy. Although I do suppose I should semi-apologize for the "self-portrait" of you from New Year's Day. So maybe we'll call this one even.

”He’s a guy that will go to war for us, and that’s exactly what this team needs,” added Poile.

Oy. You should have asked Hurricanes' fans a month ago and we would have saved the Olympic Committee this whole big headache.

Clearly, JR is cool with the decision. And by "cool" I clearly mean "in the midst of a little man crush on the Timster".

"If Eric Staal wasn't the new captain of the Hurricanes, Tim Gleason would be," Rutherford told NHL.com.

And finally a word from the Emperor himself:

"It's an awesome thing. It's something to play for I guess, other than the Stanley Cup. And it's always been a goal of mine; a dream of mine and it's finally come true. It's a great opportunity for myself."

In the department of massive depression and the horror that is being a seller at the trade deadline, the rumor has been floating around all day today that Niclas Wallin has waived his NTC to go to San Jose. John Forslund is reporting that he waived his NTC in an effort to remain in the NHL next season; a contract extension is supposedly part of the deal. JR has confirmed that a deal is in the works, but declined to say where the Big Swede would be headed.

To further add to the rumor mill, Jiri "Nakey Boy" Tlusty was reassigned to Albany where he can terrorize another fan base with his...errr...ummm...passion for photography. Either a forward is coming off the injured list although tweets suggest it won't be in time for tomorrow night or a trade is in the works and Nakey Boy's spot was needed. UPDATE: JR has attributed Tlusty's return to Albany as a development move saying that they want him to play all the way through the Olympic break. Still no word on who will take his spot against Buffalo tomorrow night.

This is just a sign of things to come for Hurricanes’ fans. The next few weeks will be beyond tough for the diehards as many players are expected to leave North Carolina for greener, and likely colder, pastures. This is the tough side of hockey, the business side that leaves a sour taste in all fans’ mouths and unfortunately it is where this season has taken us.

Burke Blows It-Gleason to stay stateside

Ah...Fenway Park at roughly 4:20. The Bruins had just won the 3rd annual Winter Classic and it was now time to announce the mens' hockey roster for Team USA (aka the team hoping to hold off the rest of the world for fourth behind Canada, Russia and Sweden). This announcement wasn't as hyped up as the Canadian roster announcement (in fact the US accomplished in about 5 minutes what it took Canada 30 minutes and two channels to do), but it had importance for those of us born in the US of A. They trotted out the little mighty mites wearing replica jerseys with player names on the back and everyone not already freezing to death held their breath.

They started with the forwards and there wasn't really much surprise as the talent pool wasn't exactly Mariana Trench deep (yeah that's your nerdy joke of the day). Then they got to the defensemen and my blood pressure shot through the roof. Each name they announced was more puzzling than the last. But what was more shocking was the name they left off. That's right folks, our very own Timmo Gleasonen was passed over for the likes of Paul Martin, Mike Komisarek and Jack Flippin' Johnson.

Let's do a little comparison shall we?

First off Tim Gleason's stats:
Not great, but not bad either. For him this is a career year despite playing for the worst team in hockey. Plus you can't discount the leadership and heart he brings.

How about that Paul Martin eh? He's really tearing it up. Oh wait...
Stats don't really tell the whole picture here because Martin has been injured for almost the entire season. In fact, as of December 23, he was listed as being out for four more weeks due to complications from a broken arm. That gives him what? Two weeks of games before he's thrown into Olympic play? Oh yeah that should work out well. He may not make it back at all, in which case he'd have to be replaced, something Burke is already acknowledging. Good choice. :rolls eyes:

Then you have Mike Komisarek:
His stats are worse than Gleason's while playing for a team that is also statistically a better team than Carolina (but who isn't these days?). It should be noted that he plays for Brian Burke's Toronto Maple Leafs. Yes that's right I am facilitating conspiracy theories. Plus when you have quotes like this it's hard not to:

Burke is president and general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs and one of the defenseman on Team USA is the Leafs' Mike Komisarek. "He's my kind of guy," Burke said.

Finally we have Mr. Jack Johnson who is a -53 for his career and has not fared much better this season:
Keep in mind that LA is one of the better teams in the league as they sit at 13th league wide and 8th in the West. While he's put up more points than Tim has (16 to 12), he's shaky at best in his own end. Hopefully he brings that high quality defense with him to Vancouver.

Perhaps Brian Burke was too busy trying to figure out the definition of truculence (which by the way could be used to describe Gleason's game) to actually watch any of Gleason's games this season. Perhaps he missed where Tim Gleason neutralized the world's best players both in the regular season and the playoffs. Maybe he slept through Tim's sisu filled games against Washington. Or maybe Burke already knew who he wanted prior to the season starting; actual play be darned.

Whatever the reason, whatever the rationale, Brian Burke made a mistake when he chose to leave Tim Gleason off the roster. He wants a hard working, gritty team who'll play their butts off? Well guess what, "B": the guy that embodies those qualities is still sitting in Raleigh and his name is Tim Gleason. Best of luck in Vancouver.

Ed. note-thanks to Jenniwa30 for Burke's self-portrait.