Great Moments From The NHL On FOX: Apparently, Hockey History Needs One Minute to Recap

This is the video FOX showed prior to it’s first ever afternoon of hockey coverage, which included the following games:

 

• New York Rangers at Philadelphia, 3
• St. Louis at Detroit, 3
• Boston at Washington, 3
• Florida at Tampa Bay, 3
• San Jose at Anaheim, 6

 

BONUS VIDEO: Anaheim-Phoenix, Paul Kariya’s OT Winner in Game 6:

Great Moments From The NHL On FOX: Is Gretzky-Messier Odd Couple the Best NHL Promo Ever?

Despite the fact that the challenges facing the two men are completely irrelevant – they won four Cups together in the 80’s – this parody of “The Odd Couple” is hilarious, and does something hockey commercials have rarely done: delved into pop culture references (Okay, maybe this counts too).

So the question before the jury is:  Is this the best NHL on ___ (Fox/ABC/NBC/ESPN/VERSUS) promo ever made?  You decide.

Great Moments From The NHL On FOX: Alex Kovalev Dominates in Montreal… For the Rangers

Kovalev/Kovalov, let’s call the whole thing off.  The shifty veteran forward has often had his name pronunciation mangled by announcers, and both Doc Emrick and John Davidson are guilty here (though Emrick would eventually get it right, JD still goes with “ov” to this day) of getting it wrong.

But they get it wrong quite often, because AK27 is at his finest in this, the sixth game of the Rangers-Canadiens playoff series, back when Alex was shining on Broadway.  It’s some great action for fans of glow pucks, robots, and dangling Russian forwards.

Great Moments From The NHL On FOX: “The Temptations Were Toppin’ the Charts”

We spoke to you yesterday about how many games FOX produced in a season.  One of our commenters pointed out that they were all regional telecasts, meaning fans could only actually watch 12 games a season.  We know.  We just like making dramatic statements.

Anyway, we took some good from FOX yesterday, we take some bad today, with some hilariously cheesy pre-game intro video from Game 1 of the 1995 Stanley Cup Finals between the Devils and Red Wings.  Does this announcer still do the football pre-games on FOX?

Great Moments from The NHL On FOX: Konstantinov’s Emotional Return to the Joe

Hockey is often a game of emotion, but very rarely ones that involve tears.  After the tragic crash that paralyzed Vladimir Konstantinov and Sergei Mnastikonov following the 1997 Stanley Cup Finals, they finally returned home to the Joe Louis Arena for Game 4 of the 1997 Western Conference Finals vs. the Dallas Stars.

Everything about it screams the emotion and class of hockey people.  From longtime PA announcer Budd Lynch’s cracking voice and inspirational words, to Mike Emrick being on the verge of tears and pointing out a great thing about reactions and emotions.  It’s one of my favorite hockey moments ever, and it doesn’t involve anything on the ice.

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.

Great Moments from The NHL On FOX: Fight Night (Er, Day) at the United Center

NHL Rivalries are great.  Probably better than any other sports, because NHL players are allowed to spontaneously beat the living pulp out of each other.  Well, today we bring you a series of fights from a game in Chicago.  It took place on April 7, 1996, in the first season of the FOXtrax Glow Puck.  Enjoy these three rounds of momentus fighting.

Great Moments From The NHL On FOX: Mike Peluso Cries, Wins Cup

One of the first things that ever turned us on to hockey was when our parents bought us the 1995 Devils Stanley Cup Championship video.  Within months, we were able to quote it to anyone who’d listen.  One of my favorite Devils on that team was Mike Peluso, and “Crash Line” mates Bobby Holik and Randy McKay.  They seemed to emphasize what the game was all about:  Being tough, but also being able to contribute offensively.

Anyway, in our clip today, John Davidson touchingly explains why Mike Peluso missed a shift in the clinching Game 4 of the ’95 Final series.  Enjoy, after the jump.

Great Moments From The NHL On FOX: Owen Nolan’s Eyes Are Smiling

 

As a child of the 90’s, we were not as privileged as many of you are to have a photographic memory of FOX’s NHL coverage (we know, we’re jealous).  However, the little we do recall, we recall with fond memories of glowing pucks, James Brown, and – we’re being serious here – the best coverage the NHL has EVER had on national TV.  Maybe one day we’ll get into the long story of how FOX wanted to air the entire Stanley Cup Finals, but that’s for another time.  For now, enjoy our weekly feature, “Great Moments from the NHL on FOX”

We have an odd memory.  For some reason, we remember when we were but a young boy, hearing our mother talk about how former San Jose Sharks captain Owen Nolan was born in Ireland.  As a half-Irish boy myself, and knowing then (and knowing now) that our mother is the smartest person alive, we knew this was of some significance.

 

When we got a little older, we realized that it certainly is.  There are no other Irish hockey players (that I’m aware of), and Nolan actually is from Belfast, which is really in Northern Ireland, but we count it (though I’m pretty sure we should’nt.  Sorry mom.).  Anyway, here’s one of my favorite videos of all time, Owen Nolan scoring a pair (including his “called shot” hat-trick goal on Dominik Hasek) in 1997 NHL All-Star Game for hometown San Jose.  Glow puck!

Great Moments From the NHL On FOX: Rats!

As a child of the 90’s, we were not as privileged as many of you are to have a photographic memory of FOX’s NHL coverage (we know, we’re jealous).  However, the little we do recall, we recall with fond memories of glowing pucks, James Brown, and – we’re being serious here – the best coverage the NHL has EVER had on national TV.  Maybe one day we’ll get into the long story of how FOX wanted to air the entire Stanley Cup Finals, but that’s for another time.  For now, enjoy our weekly feature, “Great Moments from the NHL on FOX”

Perhaps one of the more indelible images of the 1990’s NHL are the rats at Florida’s Miami Arena.  Seeing them cascade down to the ice was one of the most entertaining things a young man could see.  You’ll get a quick gander at this tradition (albeit, for a sadder reason) as well as some glow puck (!) action in this clip from Colorado’s 3-2 Game 3 win in the 1996 Stanley Cup Finals.