Puck the Media’s NHL Tournament of Announcers, Round 2, Match 4, Danny Gallivan Bracket: Howie Rose vs. Rick Jeanneret

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

First things first, Dave Strader defeated Paul Steigerwald to advance to the quarterfinals.  Next, we have Isles guy Howie Rose vs. Sabres legend Rick Jeanneret.  Voting lasts 24 hours.  Go!

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Great Moments from the NHL On FOX: The Deconstruction of Eric Lindros

We never liked Eric Lindros.  We probably never had a chance to, us being from Jersey, and he playing in, uh, Philly and New York.  Still, we just did not like something about him.  He was too fragile for his size, and he couldn’t keep his god damn head up in the neutral zone!  Eric, c’mon!  We mean, after the first time, learn the lesson and move on!

Sigh, anywho.  Here’s the first of Lindros’ concussions, suffered at the hands of one of our favorite non-Devils players, Darius Kaspar-minus, er, Kasparitis, plus some bonus videos of Lindros refusing to go after Tony Twist, taking on Adam Foote, and for posterity, him taking down Vladimir Konstantinov.

Honda Shows Support of Hockey By Actually Making Commercials Centered on It

The NHL has numerous sponsors who support their efforts with advertisements in the arena, on TV, on concourses, and anywhere else the NHL holds an event.  The problem is, they don’t quite support the game enough with integration of the hockey brand within their commercials.  We spent a lot of time Christmas Day watching basketball, and noticed just how many “basketball-themed” commercials from their sponsors there were (Not counting that weird Chris Paul/Right Guard commercial.  Yuck.).  

Anyway, Honda – recently named official automocar of the NHL – has decided to reverse that trend with five new hockey-themed spots:

“We shot in Winnipeg, featuring real kids who play hockey, shown in their real houses with their real parents. The spots feature the Pilot, Ridgeline and Odyssey and lets NHL fans know that Honda truly understands the game of hockey,” said Joe Baratelli, SVP, creative director at RPA, in a release. “We set out to capture the commitment of the parents and the harsh conditions families endure all over North America to communicate Honda’s reliability and trustworthiness.”

This is a step in the right direction for the NHL, and certainly an improvement over NHL2K8 being featured in those Dodge commercials.  They need to encourage more brands to present hockey within their spots.  That’s why the McDonald’s deal is kind of blunt and disappointing.  But apparently, Honda is one of the sponsors who get it.

From the Sock Drawer: McDonalds, Dowd and More

“In the Sock Drawer”, a tribute to our old SportsFanMagazine.com column,  is a new feature we plan to do on most days, whenever there’s some TV/media news to report that, quite frankly, isn’t worth making a full post about.

• Good work on the NHL’s part, landing an advertising deal with McDonald’s which includes the Winter Classic, All-Star Game, and Team USA Hockey.  Does anyone else think that sappy Blackhawks-go-to-a-funeral-then-to-McDonalds helped make that happen?  Really, this is more of an excuse to post that awesome video Wyshynski made on his site.  Kudos, sir.
• One more piece of news on the NHL-McDonald’s front. Don’t expect to see too much NHL presence at the Golden Arches for now.  As one Mickey D’s exec., via Sports Business Journal report, so bluntly puts it: McDonald’s has done some impressive nationwide NHL premium programs in Canada, including mini-jerseys, mini-trophies and trading cards, but, at least initially, those elements will not migrate south. “It will be media focused for now,” said John Lewicki, McDonald’s senior director of alliance marketing. “We’ll use the Winter Classic to push Premium Roast coffee, because that’s a good match.”  Well then, sir.
• We’ve written about Jimmy Dowd’s potential as a broadcaster before.  Mike Morreale of NHL.com follows up, though Jimmy’s still looking to get back into the game before time is up.  Stay on the TV side Jimmy!
• Finally, Sports Media Watch predicts the NHL Winter Classic ratings will keep on the uptick this season.  We agree, but we’re still cautious about it.

Cause We’re Kinda’ Bored: The 2010 Olympic Hockey Schedule

The opening game of the Winter Olympic Men’s Hockey Tournament is about 13-and-a-half months away.  In fact, this February, 12 teams are going to play a tournament to qualify for the final three spots in the whole shebang (USA, Canada, Finland, Sweden, Czech Rep., Russia, Switzerland, Belarus, Slovakia have all qualified) and go 0-3 and straight home.  I’m particularly hoping Slovenia beats out Germany in it’s group, just so we can see Anze Kopitar instead of Marco Sturm (sorry, Marco Sturm).  

Anyway, the schedule (including game times) is up and available, so why not post it ihere, along with some analysis on the TV side (NBC does a fantastic job with hockey at the Olympics) and whatnot?  Well, enjoy after the jump.

And We’re Back!

For today, cause, you know it’s the weekend.  But to make up for our absence, we promise to go all five days next week.  Yay!  Compromises!  Anyway, no Top 10 Hockey Stories today, those’ll all be saved for next week.  We have some fun stuff for you today, videos, and ToA.  Starting up in about a half-hour.  Can’t wait.