BIG, BAD BRUINS ARE BORING

PERHAPS IF COACHES HAD long-term job security, this wouldn’t happen. Perhaps if commissioner Gary Bettman knew enough about hockey to realize the defensive aspects of the game are rewarded disproportionately, this wouldn’t happen. And perhaps if coaches had the wisdom to put the well-being of the NHL ahead of their own personal gain, this wouldn’t happen. But since none of the above happens to be true, it does happen. Time and again. An NHL coach, perhaps operating under the delusion he is making a pronouncement which has escaped the grasp of lesser intellects, decides it doesn’t matter how boring his team’s efforts may be as long as they win. “Winning is all that matters,” or some variation of that theme, is the phrase these deep thinkers use. For a short time, that may be…

56 WAYS TO SAVE THE ALL-STAR GAME

WE CAME UP WITH 56 SOLUTIONS to fix the NHL’s marquee-game-that-really-doesn’t-mean-much-at-all. And since the NHL All-Star Game (the 56th edition of which is in Atlanta on Jan. 27) is meant as a fun weekend for the fans, players and sponsors – oh, the sponsors – alike, we tried to inject a little playfulness into the proceedings. Some suggestions are serious – like, let’s kill the conference versus conference format for…any other format – while some are brainchilds that might have you thinking we played the game without a helmet for too many years. No matter. The hope is the NHL will embrace the event as a chance to showcase not only its great players, but its great personalities as well. And if we can improve the actual on-ice product in the…

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

2 MINUTES IN THE BOX

What was your ‘welcome to the NHL’ moment? Well, I scored in my first game, so that was a pretty good highlight. Everything else is a blur – you get so nervous during your first game. Favorite movie of all-time? Kingpin. Favorite album of all-time? Anything by The Tragically Hip. Best vacation you’ve gone on? I went to Maui for my honeymoon and that was great. I’d never been anywhere before that. Worst road trip ever? Playing for Prince George (WHL), there were some doozies for sure. The shortest trip was six hours to Kelowna. Most of the time we’d leave the night before the game and get there in the morning. What was your last job before you were a pro athlete? My buddies and I worked for a hire-a-student company one summer and the worst job was for this…