P.K. Subban , Evander Kane, and Wayne Simmonds - The new breed of superstar

The NHL is full of superstars.  The TV spotlights them, writers relate their stories and youngsters across the world want to be them. Hockey is a beautiful game.  It crosses borders, countries and yes even color....well at least borders and countries.  It looks like we have still have some work to do to bring down the color barrier in the NHL; for some fans.

Everyone shuddered when Chris Moorehouse threw a banana  at Wayne Simmonds in an exhibition game; last week.  The obvious reference to Simmonds' skin colour made the incident into national and international news.  The dumb bell obviously didn't realize that skill is what defines a hockey player; not skin color. Black hockey players are nothing new for real hockey fans.  There have been many firsts for black hockey players in the NHL.

Jerome Iginla was the first black captain in the NHL.  Under his leadership , the Calgary Flames went to the Stanley Cup final in 2004.  Iginla has very soft hands and he has been a scoring machine and is now the resident hockey god in Cow Town.

Tony McKegney was the first black "impact" hockey player in the NHL. McKegney was a cornerstone for the Buffalo Sabres for many seasons.  He was a solid two way player who netted 40 goals in  his best year.

Grant Fuhr is best known as the anchor for the Oiler teams made famous by Wayne Gretzky and company.  Fuhr stood between the pipes and guarded the paint as Edmonton hosted an Oilers dynasty which won numerous Cups.

I was discussing the whole Moorehouse situation with a friend this week and he told me that malice should not be confused with stupidity.  In that spirit I suggest that it might serve Mr.Moorehouse well to hit Google and educate himself.  Black hockey players are common on both sides of the border. Some of the best players in the NHL are black.   

Guys like P.K. Subban, Evander Kane, and Wayne Simmonds are just some of these black superstars.  These guys are super skilled hockey players and deserve the respect of everyone including racist idiots like Moorehouse.  Hopefully we will continue to see more skilled black players in the ranks of the NHL.  Equally so; hopefully we will see less of fans like Mr.Moorehouse.

Winter Classic in the NHL and other Good Stuff.

 The NHL announced that this season’s Winter Classic will pit rivals Philadelphia Flyers against the New York Rangers. The game is to be held at Citizen’s Bank Field in Philadelphia and will take place on Jan 2^nd rather than the usual date of Jan 1^st.

The press conference announcing the game saw Sather and Snider have a dig at each other’s organisation, setting the tone for what could be the game of the season.

Certainly a game I will look forward to over the New Year’s period – hopefully both teams will be doing well in the Atlantic division come face off and we will see a spectacle on ice that matches the setting of these classic games.

Brendan Shanahan. One time hero of mine along with the likes of Federov, Kozlov and the mercurial Stevie Y. Do I like him in this new role that he has taken up at the NHL? I’ll come back to you on that during the season.

Shanahan has been given a role which means he studies any checks / hits / incidents that are bordering on or breaking the new NHL rules.

He then gives his decision on them and hands out the punishment. It is very much like he is the new Sheriff of the NHL. His actual title is Senior Vice President Of

Player Safety.

He has already been dishing out suspensions during the preseason. Jean Francois Jacques of the Ducks being suspended the remainder of the preseason plus 5 regular season games for leaving the bench with the purpose of starting a fight, Wisniewski of the Blue Jackets getting the remainder of the preseason and 8 regular season games for an illegal check to the head and Brad Staubitz the remainder of the preseason and 4 regular season games for an illegal check from behind are just 3 of the suspensions he has already handed out.

A lot has been said, especially last season about hits to the head and illegal checks that have seen some of the stars of the NHL miss a lot of games. This is the way the NHL have decided to combat it, giving Shanahan the job to cast his eyes over the incidents, the rule book and then give out punishment as necessary. The way in which Shanahan is doing this is unique to me as he is giving out his verdict to the camera’s and how he came to the decisions. Speaking over footage of the hits and taking into account players positioning, visible intentions of the players and previous suspension history he is then ruling with an iron fist.

Whilst fans, coaches and players first comments on this seem to be positive I’m unsure myself. I’m not unsure with the way / style he is doing it, in fact I think it is an excellent idea and allows everyone to know why the decision has been made.

It’s a very good insight and way of analysing hits and checks and after seeing the Shanahan videos everyone should know what is legal and illegal and hopefully the players will take heed and the bad hits will become less of an issue in the game.

What I am unsure of is the length of suspensions and whether every little incident is going to come under scrutiny with this system. Maybe suspensions have been heavy preseason to try and make players think straight away about the hits they are making but surely you can’t give a player an 8 game suspension for an incident preseason and then have a similar incident later in the season that only warrants a 1 or 2 game suspension. The length of suspensions has got to be consistent and be applied all season. This could lead to coaches and fans becoming less favourable to the system when key players are missing big games.

I will remain sceptical for now and make my mind up a month into the season. Hopefully by then these sort of incidents won’t be a major talking point and the hockey flair will be.

Wayne Simmonds has certainly started life with the Flyers with some controversy. The first incident by no means was his fault with a fan throwing a banana onto the ice whilst he was taking a penalty shot in a shoot out. A fan has been charged with the incident and hopefully we won’t see anything like this again in the NHL.

What came next in a friendly with the New York Rangers was an allegation by Rangers forward Sean Avery that a homophobic slur was aimed at him by Simmonds.

Simmonds denied using the slur he was alleged to have said and with non of the on ice officials near the players hearing anything either the NHL hasn’t taken any action on this incident.

Both incidents are not needed in the sport and hopefully Simmonds will be mentioned in later blogs and news for his on ice play rather than stories like this. He had a good playoffs with LA last season and the Flyers will be hoping he starts this season like he finished last.

by Adam Yates

THE NHL PRE-SEASON KEEPS ROLLING ALONG AND THERE HAVE BEEN HIGHS AND LOWS

The Jets, Sabres and banana throwing idiots have people talking.

We have been catching as many pre-season games as possible.  This year should get off to a heck of a bang with some big pre-season changes in the NHL being front and center.

The Jets are back in Winnipeg and the crowds have turned out in droves to watch their new hometown heroes. The fans in the Peg know hockey back to front and the Jets should thrive in a city which is steeped in hockey tradition.  The first pre season game @ the MTS Center was a blow out.  Not only did the Jets demolish the opposition; the fans made noise like it was the seventh game of the Stanley Cup finals.  It was nuts !!!  Things will only get better for the new Jets.  The team is young and the management is committed to getting a winner on the ice.  The guys have money and if they put it to use; there will be a Cup in Winnipeg very soon.

The ownership change with the Sabres will also show up on the ice.  Ryan Miller will not be alone and the Sabres' front office has told fans that the dollars will flow to bring a winner to Buffalo. Looks like the Bruins and Habs will have their hands full with Buffalo. The Sabres are a character driven team and if they can deliver on the talent side you could be looking at the "Bruins" of 2012.

On the downside of NHL hockey; some yokel thru a banana @ Wayne Simmonds from the Flyers @ an exhibition game in London.  That was a complete BS move.  When are some of the NHL faithful going to learn that colour has nothing to do with skill ? This is 2011 not 1911 or 1811.  Hockey fans are better than this and hopefully this incident will be the only such incident this year and forever going forward.  I know those are high expectations but the eternal optimist in me says that a banana throwing idiot is not hard to find and next time someone normal will turn him or her into security.  Work together guys !!! Hockey is a fun sport and it is no place for racists.