ON THE DL

Lighting the Lamp With Yahoo Puck Daddy Greg Wyshynski

Greg Wyshynski from Yahoo’s Puck Daddy joins the show to talk about the fastest game on ice. Well, maybe the only game on ice. (Note, we will not be talking luge anytime soon.)

We talk first about the coverage of the league by Puck Daddy to wonder if the site looks more at the play on the ice, or the lifestyle of the NHL player off the ice. And frankly, does the NHL player have a lifestyle? We talk so much about the NFL and NBA lifestyle and how covering the off the field stories could fill a blog every day. Does that happen in the NHL?

Another way to look at it -- does the league have enough marketable stars? Does the NHL have enough players whose lives we’d care about off the ice to warrant coverage of that lifestyle? Outside of Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin, is there anyone that transcends the sport?

Speaking of those two young stars, we ask Wyshynski who is better. Living in DC we thought Wyshynski would go right to Ovi (note: he is a Devils fan, however) but he manages to give a detailed breakdown of each player’s game. Let’s just say they are both great at what they do.

We stay on the budding ‘rivalry’ to introduce Don Cherry. Cherry has had some choice words for Ovi lately and we ask Wyshynski if he thinks that’s because of the flamboyant nature of Ovechkin’s game, or the fact that he’s from Europe. We’re told that it’s not so much that he’s from Europe, but rather that he’s NOT from Canada -- that the perceived European bias is actually a non-Canadian bias.

But it doesn’t help the league that so many of their stars have trouble with the language. And unlike in MLB, the language many of them speak isn’t widely spoken and taught in schools in this country. So does the language barrier preclude European players from becoming mega stars? And does the number of top European players hurt the league’s marketing? (In other words, could this be an LPGA situation?)

Nick brings up the Kontinental Hockey League (created in Russia) that had plans a few months ago to legitimately challenge the NHL for top European players, hoping to create a league in Europe that would rival that in America and Canada. Wyshynski tells us that the model has somewhat fallen apart, but a rift is soon coming if the NHL decides not to let their players suit up in the Olympics, what with the Winter Games once removed scheduled for Russia.

And the mental image of Jaromir Jagr swimming like Scrooge McDuck in a vault of ‘gold rubles’ is something I hope doesn’t leave me for a while.

We talk about the full houses in hockey and the empty ones in basketball. That’s a little dramatic, but it leads to wonder if the NHL doing better (both financially and from a fan interest and loyalty standpoint) than the NBA. While that may be the case, Wyshynski lets us in on the fact that the numbers are “bullshit” in the NHL. Many houses are papered and in smaller markets, tickets are 2-for-1 if not given away altogether. Hmm.

So are they watching on TV? And what of this NHL Network that popped up on my TV this year? This leads to a RIDICULOUSLY HILARIOUS discussion about Verizon Fios. Can’t miss.

Where were we? Oh yes, does the NHL Network’s decision to play games on air make having Versus unnecessary? Not if Comcast continues to pay the NHL, it seems. But it does lead to wonder if the future of the NHL’s viability lies in the hands of ESPN. If ESPN picked up hockey, would it get cool again? Maybe glowing pucks would make it cool.

A few quick hits near the end...

Sean Avery is getting a movie made about his hockey-fashion interning career choices? And it’s really going to be call ‘Puckface?’

Bruins announcer and former ESPNer Jack Edwards maniacally cackled at Flyers fans for booing a bad hit along the boards. Have announcers gone too far over the top, or is Edwards just insane? He sure sounds it. Honestly, listen to the clip, it’s as if he’s calling the game while petting a small cat and wearing a monocle.

As a Devils fan, we ask Wyshynski to settle the bet Nick and I had about Marty Brodeur’s wins record. Is it that big a deal? And what record could he soon break that would be a bigger deal?

Last, since we’re talking about hockey, we should talk about actual hockey. Who does he think has a chance to get to the Stanley Cup Finals? And can anything get in the way of Philadelphia’s sports mojo right now?

Link to this:

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Listen to Dan and Nick talk with Wyshynski

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Watch Don Cherry’s criticism of Alex Ovechkin from earlier this month. There has been debate that this is borderline racist. Do you see a borderline?

Does Jack Edwards call Bruins games with a cat on his lap while wearing a monocle? Or is he just REALLY this much of a homer?

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