I've started a side blog at http://my.hockeybuzz.com/knucklesandwich. It is all about hockey and it came with my subscription to Hockey Buzz. My first post is my first impressions of the Flyers/Rangers preseason game that I watched today. To summarize it here, the Flyers off-season moves were a lot better than the Rangers off-seasons moves (the Rangers defense looked like pylons in blue jerseys).

If you are interested in hockey please check it out and give me some feedback.

Check out this billboard that the Dallas Stars are using to advertise hockey. As a Canadian, I don't care if Americans watch hockey but it is nice to see hockey take a shot back at some of the other sports after all the shots taken at hockey from American "sports experts".

The NHL season starts tomorrow, I can’t wait (even if Toronto is the first game on).

I am feeling pretty good about the team I drafted for my hockey pool. They are a young team but I think they are all going to have great seasons. Comments and criticism welcome:

– Eric Staal

– Rick Nash

– Patrice Bergeron

– Justin Williams

– Marek Svatos

– J.P. Dumont

– Nathan Horton

– Glen Murray

– Steve Bernier

– Raffi Torres (can’t go wrong getting Raffi this late).

– Patrick Eaves

My summer is now officially over. I must've been watching too much soccer because last Wednesday while playing hockey, I turned my foot sideways to block a shot and the shot broke my foot. I went for x-rays last Thursday and today (Monday) they finally let me know that my foot was broken and indeed I did need a cast.

Today, Steve Yzerman retired. In my opinion he was the best player to ever put on a pair of skates and pick up a hockey stick.

I remember growing up watching Yzerman and seeing something in him that other hockey players didn't seem to have and that is what I strived to do as a hockey player and in life. The class and leadership that Yzerman showed both on and off the ice make him a perfect role model and I will miss watching him on get the job done on the ice.

I was fortunate to see his last game in the NHL against the Oilers and you can bet that the ticket stubs  and programs will be framed and added to my Steve Yzerman memorabilia collection. Watching Yzerman skate off the ice and fade away into the visitors tunnel after they had just been beaten by the Oilers is an image that will stick with me until the day I die:

Today at at lunch I was walking to go renew my license and pick up a buss pass and I saw Niklas Lidstrom, Chris Chelios, and Robert Lang sitting outside a restaurant having lunch. 

They were finished eating so I said hi and wished them good luck for the next game. I have been a fan of the Red Wings for a long time so meeting them was pretty cool!

We lost our 2nd game in a row of the playoffs last night and in our league, losing 2 in a row means you are eliminated from the playoffs. Looking back on the hockey year I had my best year since I joined the league 3 years ago:  

Player	GP	GLS	ASTS	TPTS
STEVE ROCKARTS	25	32	28	60

I also had a good 2 games in the playoffs with 3 goals 2 assists and a shootout goal in 2 games. So it was heartbreaking to lose last night.

On the bright side, I will be able to watch the Oilers play the Red Wings in the playoffs. I managed to get 2 tickets to game 6 so hopefully the series goes to game 6.

Today also officially marks 2 TV season. I love watching 2–3 hockey games simultaneously in the first round, there is always tons of action.

This is a list of the Winter Olympic hockey teams going to Turin for 2006. I am going to try and keep this list up to date but it may be a little off. One thing to remember is that Goalies can wear the old equipment they wore at the last Olympics, they are not permitted to wear the same smaller equipment they wear in the NHL so expect the old equipment to come out of retirement.

The rink is also 13.5 feet wider than an NHL tink but they are the same length.

 Players in blue were named as a replacement for the player crossed out. If there is any incorrect information please let me know in the comments and I will correct it.

United States
 
Goaltenders
 Rick DiPietro
 Robert Esche
 John Grahame
 Ryan Miller

Defense
 Chris Chelios
 Derian Hatcher
 Jordan Leopold
 John-Michael Liles
 Aaron Miller Bret Hedican
 Brian Rafalski
 Mathieu Schneider

Forwards
 Jason Blake
 Erik Cole
 Craig Conroy
 Chris Drury
 Brian Gionta
 Scott Gomez
 Bill Guerin
 Mike Knuble
 Mike Modano
 Mark Parrish
 Brian Rolston
 Keith Tkachuk
 Doug Weight

Germany

Goaltenders
 Olaf Kölzig
 Robert Müller
 Thomas Greiss

Defense
 Sascha Goc
 Christian Ehrhoff
 Christoph Schubert
 Stefan Schauer
 Andreas Renz
 Alexander Sulzer
 Lasse Kopitz
 Dennis Seidenberg
 
Forwards
 Stefan Ustorf
 Jochen Hecht
 Marco Sturm
 Daniel Kreutzer
 Alexander Barta
 Thomas Martinec
 Eduard Lewandowski
 Klaus Kathan
 Marcel Goc
 Michael Hackert
 Petr Fical
 Jan Benda

Kazakhstan
 
Goaltenders
 Vitaliy Yeremeyev
 Vitaliy Kolesnik
 Kirill Zinovyev
 
Defense
 Oleg Kovalenko
 Artyom Argokov
 Denis Shemelin
 Alexey Koledayev
 Yevgeniy Pupkov
 Alexey Troshchinskiy
 Alexey Vassilchenko
 Vitaliy Tregubov

Forwards
 Fedor Polishchuk
 Sergey Alexandrov
 Andrey Ogorodnikov
 Andrey Troshchinskiy
 Andrey Samokhvalov
 Dmitriy Upper
 Andrey Pchelyakov
 Dmitriy Dudarev
 Alexander Koreshkov
 Yevgeniy Koreshkov
 Konstantin Shafranov
 Nikolay Antropov

Canada
 
Goaltenders
 Martin Brodeur
 Roberto Luongo
 Marty Turco
 
Defense
 Rob Blake
 Ed Jovanovski Brian McCabe
 Chris Pronger
 Wade Redden
 Robyn Regehr
 Adam Foote
 Scott Niedermayer Jay Bouwmeester
 
Forwards
 Simon Gagne
 Dany Heatley
 Jarome Iginla
 Vincent Lecavalier
 Brad Richards
 Joe Sakic
 Joe Thornton
 Todd Bertuzzi
 Shane Doan
 Kris Draper
 Rick Nash
 Martin St. Louis
 Ryan Smyth

Sweden

Goaltenders
 Stefan Liv
 Henrik Lundqvist
 Mikael Tellqvist
 
Defense
 Christian Bäckman
 Kim Johnsson
 Kenny Jönsson
 Nicklas Lidström
 Niklas Kronwall
 Mattias Norström
 Mattias Öhlund
 
Forwards
 Daniel Alfredsson
 Per-Johan Axelsson
 Peter Forsberg
 Mika Hannula
 Jörgen Jönsson
 Fredrik Modin
 Markus Näslund Tomas Holmstrom
 Samuel Pahlsson
 Mikael Samuelsson
 Daniel Sedin
 Henrik Sedin
 Mats Sundin
 Henrik Zetterberg
 

Slovakia
 
Goaltenders
 Peter Budaj
 Karol Krizan
 Jan Lasak
 
Defense
 Zdeno Chara
 Ivan Majesky
 Andrej Meszaros
 Martin Strbak
 Radoslav Suchy
 Lubomir Visnovsky
 Milan Jurcina
 
Forwards
 Lubos Bartecko
 Peter Bondra
 Pavol Demitra
 Marian Gaborik
 Michal Handzus
 Marcel Hossa
 Marian Hossa
 Richard Kapus
 Ladislav Nagy
 Miroslav Satan
 Jozef Stumpel
 Marek Svatos
 Richard Zednik
 

Czech Republic
 
Goaltenders
 Domink Hasek
 Milan Hnilicka
 Tomas Vokoun
 
Defense
 Frantisek Kaberle
 Tomas Kaberle
 Filip Kuba
 Pavel Kubina
 Marek Malik
 Jaroslav Spacek
 Marek Zidlicky

Forwards
 Jan Bulis
 Petr Cajanek
 Martin Erat
 Milan Hejduk
 Ales Hemsky
 Jaromir Jagr
 Robert Lang
 Rostislav Olesz
 Vaclav Prospal
 Petr Prucha
 Martin Rucinsky
 Martin Straka
 David Vyborny
 

Latvia
 
Goaltenders
 Arturs Irbe
 Edgars Masalskis
 Sergejs Naumovs
 
Defense
 Viktors Ignatjevs
 Rodrigo Lavins
 Sandis Ozolins
 Georgijs Pujacs
 Arvids Rekis
 Agris Saviels
 Karlis Skrastins
 Atvars Tribuncovs
 
Forwards
 Girts Ankipans
 Armands Berzins
 Aigars Cipruss
 Vladimirs Mamonovs
 Aleksanders Nizijvs
 Grigorijs Pantelejevs
 Mikelis Redlihs
 Aleks. Semjonovs
 Janis Sprukts
 Leonids Tambijevs
 Herberts Vasiljevs
 Maris Ziedins
 

Switzerland
 
Goaltenders
 David Aebischer
 Marco Bührer
 Martin Gerber
 
Defense
 Goran Bezina
 Severin Blindenbacher
 Olivier Keller
 Mathias Seger
 Martin Steinegger
 Mark Streit
 Julien Vauclair
 
Forwards
 Flavien Conne
 Patric Della Rossa
 Paul DiPietro
 Patrick Fischer
 Sandy Jeannin
 Marcel Jenni
 Romano Lemm
 Thierry Paterlini
 Martin Plüss
 Ivo Rüthemann
 Adrian Wichser
 Thomas Ziegler
 Kevin Romy
 

Finland
 
Goaltenders
 Miikka Kiprusoff
 Kari Lehtonen
 Fredrik Norrena
 
Defense
 Teppo Numminen
 Sami Salo
 Kimmo Timonen
 Joni Pitkänen
 Toni Lydman
 Aki-Petteri Berg
 Ossi Väänänen
 
Forwards
 Saku Koivu
 Olli Jokinen
 Niko Kapanen
 Mikko Koivu
 Jere Lehtinen
 Teemu Selänne
 Tuomo Ruutu Jussi Jokinen
 Ville Peltonen
 Sami Kapanen
 Antti Laaksonen
 Antti Miettinen
 Jarkko Ruutu
 Jukka Hentunen
 

Italy
 
Goaltenders
 Günther Hell
 Jason Muzzatti
 René Baur
 
Defense
 Florian Ramoser
 Michele Strazzabosco
 Armin Helfer
 Christian Borgatello
 André Signoretti
 Carter Trevisani
 Robert Nardella
 
Forwards
 Stefano Margoni
 Stefan Zisser
 Mario Chitarroni
 Joe Busillo
 Giorgio De Bettin
 Anthony Tuzzolini
 John Parco
 Jason Cirone
 Giulio Scandella
 Lucio Topatigh
 Manuel De Toni
 Luca Ansoldi
 Anthony Iob
 

Russia
 
Goaltenders
 Nikolai Khabibulin
 Evgeni Nabokov
 Ilya Bryzgalov
 
Defense
 Andrei Markov
 Alexei Zhitnik
 Darius Kasparaitis
 Fedor Tyutin
 Daniil Markov
 Anton Volchenkov
 Sergei Gonchar
 Dmitri Bykov
 
Forwards
 Ilya Kovalchuk
 Pavel Datsyuk
 Alexei Kovalev
 Alexander Ovechkin
 Alexei Yashin
 Viktor Kozlov
 Alexander Frolov
 Evgeni Malkin
 Maxim Afinogenov
 Alexander Kharitonov
 Alexei Zhamnov
 Maxim Sushinsky

 

Now playing: Mos Def - Hip Hop

Update: Canada won 5-1!!!! I have to say watching international hockey is a great experience! Going to the rink and seeing 15,000 people cheering for the same team was awesome!

We managed to wrangle 3 tickets to the 2005 World Junior Canada vs. Finland game tomorrow! Hopefully Canada can put on a good performance for us. I got a cool Team Canada hoodie from Catherine's parents that I can wear to the game.

I have been walking my dog around the block and I noticed that Team Canada is staying in the hotel beside the condo. There are a bunch of Team Canada vans escorting the players and the coaching staff back and forth between the arenas.

I just noticed today that NHL.com has a section on their website called blogs. My favorite blog so far is the stats blog.

We won our game tonight 9-2. I think we are going to get moved up a division because even though we have had some close games we still blow teams out of the water.

I heard the best line by a sportscaster that i've heard in awhile. He announced a top shelf Alexander Daigle goal with the line "..and Daigle puts it top shelf where he used to keep his talent".

Ouch.

My new winter hockey team had our first game last night and I must say we have a pretty explosive offence. We won 17-2. I think that the team we played was in the wrong division and will probably get moved down.

In other hockey news, Brian is winning my hockey pool. He is 9 points ahead of the 2nd place person. To see it all, login with the username/password combination stevenrpool/letsgooilers

 

I have decided to make a free fun hockey pool over at www.officepools.com 

The rules:

1 - Anyone can enter.

2 - Your have to pick your players using my webpage located at:

The pool was closed on October 5th so I took the page down.

3 - Your picks must be submitted no later than October 4th 2005

4 - Forwards are awarded 1 point in the hockey pool for each point they get on the ice.

5 - Defencemen are awarded 1 point in the hockey pool for each point they get on the ice.

6 - Enforcers are awarded 1 point in the hockey pool for each penalty minute they get on the ice.

7 - Goalies are awarded 2 points in the hockey pool if they score a goal or an assist, they are also awarded a point in the hockey pool for each win they get and 2 points in the hockey pool for each shutout they get.

8 - Rookies are awarded 1 point in the hockey pool for each point they get on the ice.

You will be able to see the standings using the username: stevenrpool and the password: letsgooilers

Good Luck!!!

Steve Yzerman signed a 1 year deal with the Wings!!! This means he will have at least 1 more year until he will retire. I will have to make sure I go to all the games when the Wings are in town.

The NHL is going to be back next season! The NHL lockout is over!

I am looking forward to watching the Oilers maybe do better than 8th place in their division. I am also looking forward to the 1 o'clock matinees on Saturdays. It is awesome getting out of bed and turning on the TV and watching hockey. I also missed watching highlights late at night over and over. I guess there was a lot of things I missed.

Even though I am mad at both sides for missing a year of hockey I think that the NHL will be a better game when it comes back. I would much rather see the business side of the NHL go the way of the NFL rather than the joke that is major league baseball.

Heres a quick overview from TSN on the main points of the agreement with my comments on each point:

- a hard team-by-team salary cap with a payroll of range of $21 million to $39 million (in the first year), which includes all player costs (benefits, insurance etc).

Perfect for the Oilers but bad for the Red Wings. I bet the players are kicking themselves for not accepting the $45 million dollar cap that was offered to them by the NHL to try and save last season.

- the league's total expenditure on player costs (salaries, bonuses, benefits and insurance) is not permitted to exceed 54 per cent of defined hockey-related revenue and the salary cap and payroll range will move up or down as revenues increase or decrease each year of the deal.

This seems like a good idea only if the NHL reports their revenues right. It seems sketchy for the players.

- a 24 per-cent salary rollback for any NHL player who has time remaining on an existing contract, keeping in mind that the players will receive none of the monies they were slated to earn in the lost season of 2004-05.

I look at this as punishment for missing a season. Did missing a season hurt the owners at all? I bet the Oilers made money.

- liberalized free agency (including unrestricted status at 27 by year four of the deal), a more restrictive entry level system, totally revamped salary arbitration, improved pension benefits and a revenue-sharing plan.

Unrestricted status at age 27! Players are going to be moving around like hotcakes. Very exciting!

- Age eligibility for unrestricted free agency at age 31 in 2005, 29 in 2006, 28 in 2007. In 2008, it's 27 or seven years of NHL tenure.

This also might mean Crosby won't stay very long with whoever drafts him.

So how can the players be happy with this deal??? They screwed the fans out of a season and got very little in return. Why did they have a change of heart? Was the original deal that the owners were trying to give to them way worse? I need to hear the players side. I guess after all this is over the only conclusion that I can come to is that I think Jeremy Roenick sucks for his comments and he should try doing my job and I will take his, maybe we can slide that into the agreement somewhere before it is ratified.

I think the best decision would have been to let the fans decide. We would looked out for both the owners and the players. Although I think that the owners were right and that the players were spoiled, I would have wanted a fair decision because I am a hockey player too. We would have done what is right for the game of hockey and not just for one side.

My last issue is whether Steve Yzerman is going to decide to come back and play or not. The best all around hockey play and leader of all time does not deserve to go out like he did.

I made it into the top 5 in scoring in our division, although technically I should be in 4th because I have more goals:

 PLAYER NAME                    TEAM                     GP GOALS ASSISTS POINTS
==============================.======================.==.=====.=======.======.
STACK                GERALD    PUNISHERS              14    24      24     48
DEMCHUK              CHAD      ELECTRIC MAYHEM   14    18      18     36
NIMMO                DAVE      FALCONS                   9    23      11     34
HOLMES               ROBBIE    FALCONS                13    15      18     33
ROCKARTS             STEVE     ELECTRIC MAYHEM  13    20      13     33

I got 3 points last night so that should put me into 3rd. The werid part is that I am not to far off from last year's pace and last year I won the scoring race. It seems much tougher this year but I think we will hold down that 4th and final playoff spot and then take the championship. We had a rough loss in the last 4 seconds of the game last night but I think as a team we played great. I think we are going to ride a 3 game winning streak into the playoffs.