NHL Anthems

Watching Jennifer Hudson’s wonderful rendition of the US National Anthem last night before the Super Bowl got me thinking about the best anthems in NHL rinks.

Only a handful of teams have one anthem singer who regular sings on an every-game basis. And three of them just so happen to be the tops in the league. Here they are:

Lauren Hart – Philadelphia Flyers
Lyndon Slewidge – Ottawa Senators
John Amarante – NY Rangers

There hasn’t been a better anthem sung in the Coliseum since Carl Dixon did it for the 2002 playoff games versus Toronto. Did the amazing atmosphere help? Yeah, but I also think his anthem added to the atmosphere of that series even more.

It’s all up for debate because everyone has their own taste and opinion.

If you ask hockey fans what there greatest hockey memory is, some will say it was the 1991 NHL All-Star Game in Chicago when Wayne Messmer sang the Anthem at Chicago Stadium. It occurred just a few days after the United States went into Iraq at the start of the Gulf War. The crowd reaction was so great, his voice was nearly drowned out by the fans.

Anthems are always great when the crowd really gets into by themselves and can carry the song by themselves. Alanis Morissette sang ‘O Canada in the Stanley Cup Finals in 2007 with crowd support. Edmonton did the same thing the year before and it was just as amazing. (6:50 into the clip)

Lauren Hart’s rendition is my favorite because not only is it spectacular, but she sings it for almost every game. Consistency has a large part to do with it. It’s something I always wished the Islanders had. Fans really get behind an anthem singer they hear every game. Flyers fans often think of Lauren as just as important piece of the team as the starting goaltender that there's booing.

I really like what we’re doing with the Organist (and no vocals) at the Coliseum. I think it can catch on and if the fans get behind it, it would have the potential to be tops in the league.

But again, an anthem is all about personal taste. Someone in the office just said they though Whitney Houston sounded horrible at Super Bowl 25.

SBD on Versus Telecast of ASG

Below is a media recap from SportsBusiness Daily on Versus’ telecast of All-Star Weekend:

POOR GAME PLAN:

In N.Y., Stu Hackel wrote during Versus' broadcast of Sunday's NHL All-Star Game, there was "endless conversation about many things, but little of it focused on where the puck was, who had it and what they were doing with it." Versus' Mike Emrick and Brian Engblom, who called the All-Star Game, and analyst Ed Olzcyk are "expertly capable of providing precise and lively accounts of what's going on during games and why."

Hackel: "However, when you see and hear a Versus game, and an NBC game as well, that standard is abandoned for nonstop conversation that too often ignores the game's action. Most likely, that's not the decision of the guys behind the mic but the guys behind the scenes, who instruct the announcers to 'tell stories' at the expense of providing clear descriptions and analysis. They do hockey a massive disservice" (NYTIMES.com, 1/26).


NHL Network’s Billy Jaffe (also of MSG Plus and Islanders TV) said of Versus’ coverage of the All-Star Game, “Is it perfect? No. Are they striving to do everything better? Absolutely. … They are doing their best and they are open to suggestions” (“NHL Live!,” NHL Network, 1/26).

I’ve never had a reason not to believe Billy Jaffe, and in saying that, I hope he’s right.

Casual Observations of the ASG

Mark Streit not only returned to Montreal but also showed again what the Islanders knew already. Streiter had two assists and an impressive plus-3 rating. He also recorded two blocked shots and had three takeaways. [That’s with his former coach Guy Carbonneau behind the bench.] In an all-star game, those are impressive stats for a defensemen...

Alex Kovalev might be the least talked about, but best player in the NHL.

Alex Ovechkin, however, is the best and most exciting player in the NHL. If his English were better, he would eclipse Sydney Crosby as the face of the NHL…

Jay Bouwmeester looked pretty good along side of Mark Streit…

Topic of conversation: Fighting in the NHL. I think it belongs, but should players be taking off helmets, no. Should fighting be allowed in junior hockey? No. The NCAA gets along just fine and prospects develop just the same. Should fighting belong in senior hockey? No. But lets not forget, there are just as many – if not more – serious, career and life-threatening injuries occurring from hits from behind. Let’s put as much time and focus on that too.

If you thought the atmosphere in Montreal over TV was impressive, you have to go to a game there. Best NHL experience…

I personally loved the all-star jerseys, but those white gloves for the West… I don’t know about those…

Just sayin’: Last year in his first All-Star Game, Islanders’ goalie Rick DiPietro started and stopped 15 of 16 shots. Rangers’ goalie Henrik Lundqvist came in at the start of the second period and allowed six goals on 21 shots…

Read this and appreciate Jack Capuano and the Bridgeport Sound Tigers even more...

Topic of conversation, part 2: Players being “suspended” for not participating in the All-Star Game. Agree with the NHL here. The league needs their best players representing hockey this weekend. If you want to be the best, you have more obligations to fulfill...

More noticeable last night for the Skills Competition, but the NHL and the TV networks need to get on the same page with each other. Knowing Doc Emrick, he was prepared for the events as much as possible. But too often, the viewers were left wondering what was going on or what was next. Unfortunately, Doc couldn’t provide any answers. Casein point: At one point, Doc said that Marc Savard could not shoot at his teammate Tim Thomas in the shootout elimination event. And then in round three, guess what… Not Doc’s fault because the information wasn’t being passed along. But for a great event, the viewers at home shouldn’t be left wondering...

Great job by the city of Montreal, the Canadiens and the NHL for a successful All-Star weekend. Too bad no All-Star Game next year, but we got the Olympics!

Streit Up for Hardest Shot

Islanders All-Star Representative Mark Streit will participate in the hardest shot competition during the Super Skills showcase on Saturday night in Montreal.

Streit was working on the craft at Iceworks today and was getting his shot at some pretty high speeds. I’m sure when he’s in the moment and the adrenalin is pumping, it’ll be even higher. If so, that will be him right in the thick of things for the title.

He’ll have some stiff competition, but I’m sure Streiter will hold his own.

1 on 1 with Mark Streit

I interviewed Mark when we got back to the hotel after the morning skate this afternoon.

Albatross? Don’t think so…

Just like the day after the NHL draft when they attempt to name the “winners” and “losers” of the event, journalists think they can name the “busts” and “steals” the days and weeks following the free agency boom in July.

Granted, Mark Streit wasn’t a household name on Long Island on June 30th. But he’s becoming one.

Signed for five years and $20.5 million, GM Garth Snow was getting a quarterback for the power play and someone to patrol the blueline on a regular shift. But there were doubters everywhere that Streiter wasn’t worth the money.

On August 23rd – a month and a half before the regular season even began – Adam Muir of Sports Illustrated labeled Mark No. 5 as the 2008 free agent most likely to bust.

Here’s a link to what he said and here’s what he said:

5. Mark Streit (five years, $20.5 million)

The Islanders might as well have declined the extra man most nights last season, so ineffective was their 29th-rated power play. Streit, whose 34 PP points ranked second among all blueliners, seems like an ideal free agent addition. But did the success of the top-rated Montreal power play revolve around the 31-year-old, or was he the beneficiary of an established system that had led the league without much help from him the previous year? And how much of an asset will he be defensively considering he was minus-six at even strength for a team that was second overall in goals scored? Streit might earn his keep, but the potential for this deal to be an albatross is there.

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Not only offensively, but defensively as well, the star of Switzerland has proven otherwise.

Mark Streit isn’t going to the All-Star Game because every team has to have a representative. In fact, that’s not even a rule – but to the League’s credit, they do try to include at least one person from all 30 teams.

The bottom line is that this isn’t the year of Mariusz Czerkawski or Scott Lachance at the ASG.

As of today, Mark is tied for the league lead among defensemen (and leads all Eastern Conference defensemen) in points with 32. He flat out leads all NHL d-men in power play points with 20. His defensive play can’t be measured in numbers, but everyone around the league is taking notice. Just in the past week, there have been stories in both Edmonton papers about his superb play and Logie has taken notice all season of Mark for Newsday. The Canadian Press named Mark a starter at the game if they had it their way.

So bust? Nah. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, if there needed to be an injury replacement in the staring lineup, I can’t think of a better choice than Mark.

So, on January 25, Mark Streit will show the hockey world (his former team who said he couldn’t be regular defenseman and SI who labeled him a bust and all the other teams that didn’t make him an offer) that he’s the real deal on the blueline.

Oh, and what a better place than in the city that told him he can’t be a regular defenseman in the NHL.

The Islanders have him locked up for another four years (at a bargain of a price compared to the other free agent signings last July). And Mark is first class off the ice as well. That’s something we “love” as an organization. Mark Streit loves being on Long Island and an Islander for the next four years.

And the Islanders nor Streit wouldn’t have it any other way.

Way to go Mark. You deserve to play in the All-Star Game.

Road Trip, Day 8: Practice Day in Calgary

Here for our second of three days in Calgary, it was time to get back to work. The team practiced in the mid-afternoon and nothing exceptional to report.

We meet up with Assistant GM Ryan Jankowski, who hails from the Calgary area, today. It’s always a pleasure to catch up with him and see how our young prospects are doing.

One of the cool perks of the job is that you find out some information before everyone else. Today I got an e-mail from the NHL PR office informing me who our All Star Game representative would be. [I’m sure everyone has it narrowed down between two guys.] So, after I got the message, I passed it along to Garth, who told the player. The announcement comes out at Noon EST exclusively on NHL.com.

The team will have a morning skate tomorrow, the game is at 7:00 local time and hopefully a flight back home afterwards. The road is always fun and I love traveling with the team – wouldn’t trade it in for anything – but it would be hard to find someone on the trip who doesn’t miss home at this point.

Changes to All-Star Weekend?

TSN's NHL Insider Darren Dreger has this nugget about changes to the Skills Competition night of All-Star Weekend.

Click here to read.

Seems like the NHL is on the right track here.

And it's too bad that Frans got hurt because I think he might have been ticketed for the Young Stars game.

No word yet on if Versus will use a seven-second delay this year...