Too many NHL jerseys being retired?

Columnist Rick Wile asks this question in Kamloops This Week: "Is there glorifying for the sake of image and marketing? Jersey retirement nights in hockey are far more prevalent than they are in the other major sports of football, baseball, and basketball. Is it overkill in hockey?" (via Kukla's Korner)

I think Rick is on to something here - it seems like since the NHL lock-out, we've had a jersey retired about once every month.

When/how/why should teams retire jerseys?

After his #29 jersey was retired in Montreal last month, Ken Dryden said:

"It used to be ... that when a special rookie arrived in a team's training camp, that player would be given No. 9 or 7 or 2, whatever the number that was special to that team. One of the great and surprising thrills for me was seeing goalies wearing No. 29 after me. For a few, it may have been because I wore that number, but over time it became a goalie number."

And in Toronto, they prefer to "honour" players, rather than retire jerseys:

It was felt that not retiring player sweaters gives the Leafs the flexibility of honouring more of these individuals than would be the case if the Leafs took the sweater numbers out of circulation.

The consulting group determined that the former player’s number would be deemed an “Honoured Number” but remain in circulation. As a means of adding significance to this, the sweater of the current Maple Leaf that has the “Honoured Number” wears a special shoulder patch with the honouree's name inscribed for the balance of that season. The special banner for the honouree remains on permanent display at Air Canada Centre.

The Leafs historically only retired numbers of distinguished players that have died or had their career shortened due to tragic or catastrophic circumstances while being a member of the team. Irvine (Ace) Bailey (No. 6) and Bill Barilko (No. 5) are the two represented in this category.

What criteria should be used for retiring numbers? Here's an idea from the "Bitter Leaf Fan Page" blog:

...to be eligible to have a number retired, the player has to meet both of the following two baseline criteria:

1. Member of the Hockey Hall of Fame
2. Spent the majority of their NHL career as a Leaf...

In addition to the above, the player would also have to meet at least 2 of the following 3 criterion:

1. Won or been nominated for one of the major NHL trophies such as the Stanley Cup, Hart, Vezina, Jennings, Calder, Rocket Richard, Conn Smythe, Norris or Lady Byng while playing as a Leaf
2. Lead (or have lead) the Leafs organization in at least one major statistical category (e.g. career games played, career goals, career assists, career +/-, career points, shut outs, GAA, wins, etc.)
3. Been a pioneer or transformational player for the organization

I think the team should also have special dispensation to retire a number in the event that a player had promising career cut tragically short a la Tim Horton, Bill Barilko...

What do you think?

Austin Toros mascot loses his head, gets suspended

The Austin Toros (NBA Development League) mascot "Da Bull" lost his head during a recent game, almost cost his team a win. From ESPN.com:

The mascot, known as Da Bull, prematurely ran onto the court and hung from the rim with .4 seconds remaining, apparently to punctuate center Loren Woods' breakaway dunk that gave the Toros a four-point lead over Colorado.

While hanging from the rim ... Da Bull collided with a Colorado player. At the point of contact, the mascot's head, to his horror, fell to the floor.

The Toros were assessed a technical foul. The 14ers' Von Wafer made the free throw, but Rick Rickert missed a 3-pointer that would have tied the score as time expired.

Click here to see a video of the incident from CNN.

The Toros suspended the mascot, and assigned him to 50 hours of community service, according to a team press release:

Da Bull will return to action on Friday, February 2, when the Toros take on the Bakersfield Jam. The Toros will have a replacement mascot for Friday's game against the Arkansas Rimrockers at 7:30.

Community service for Da Bull begins this weekend at the Bastrop Hoopstars basketball clinic on Saturday and Sunday at the Whataburger Youth Basketball clinic from 1-3 at the IH-35 and Wells Branch store.

(via GameOps.com Editor Blog)

Interview with Krazy George

GameOps.com has an new interview with Krazy George -- professional male cheerleader and inventor of the wave. Read about how Krazy George got started in the business, how he started the very first wave, and the time that Wayne Gretzky invited him out for dinner.

I met George for the first time in January 1999. We booked him in for an Ottawa 67's game. We spent the afternoon taping tv promos -- with George yelling and screaming to the tv cameras.

As it turned out, the 67's game was cancelled becuase the visiting team bus got delayed in a snowstorm. I took George out for dinner, and not once did he yell, scream, or try to start the wave at the restaurant.

O Canada sung in Cree at Calgary Flames game

From cbc.ca:

A 13-year-old Alberta girl is about to make NHL history, when she becomes the first person to sing O Canada before a game in Cree.

Akina Shirt, who lives in Edmonton but is originally from the Saddle Lake First Nation, will sing the national anthem in Cree before the puck drops for the Calgary Flames-Vancouver Canucks game on Saturday night.

Help wanted: Mascot performer

Via GameOps.com:

The New Orleans Hornets of the NBA are looking for a creative and talented mascot performer for a full time position. The performer’s responsibility will include performing as all three Hornets characters as well as creative input for video and live skit production.

What's the strangest thing you've seen thrown onto the ice?

Hats, octopi, rats, teddy bears ... what's the strangest thing you've seen thrown onto the ice at a hockey game?

Blogger / Toronto Sun writer Sunaya Sapurji says:

"For me -- and I’ve seen a lot of crazy stuff -- it would have to be a baby shark (real, but already dead) and an, ummm... how to say this delicately... a sex toy. Both, oddly enough, thrown onto the ice in Erie, Pa., during the OHL championship series.

The shark was pretty darn big, even for a baby, and I remember former Otter Brandon Cullen picking it up by the gills and swinging it around. Highly disturbing. If I recall correctly, the shark had been part of a display for some show that had taken place in the arena a day earlier.

The second bizarre item thrown on the ice was, I’m assuming, an homage former Otter star Cory Pecker. The funniest thing about that moment was watching the officials fight amongst themselves, since no one wanted to touch said item.
In those days it was not uncommon to see people walking around town wearing their "Pecker Power" T-shirts with pride."

What's the strangest thing you've seen thrown on the ice? Post a comment below.

Awesome Detroit Pistons intro

Courtesy of the GameOps.com blog ... Stay on your feet, time to meet and greet ... John Mason, the Detroit Pistons PA announcer.

Something in the Air: Florida Panthers opening video

This vid reminds us a bit of this old school gem from Calgary. Especially Bertuzzi's piano solo.

(via On Frozen Pond)

What happens to the hat trick hats?

When there's a hat trick in Atlanta, all the hats are collected and put into a big display box. Here's part of an article from the Atlanta-Journal Constitution:

Traditionally, the hats are gathered into a bag, brought to the locker room after the game and offered up to the player who scored the three goals. Occasionally, a player will grab one as a memento.

On Tuesday night, with help from the Ice Girls, the 150 or so hats were quickly cleared off the ice into trash bins and brought to Hossa, who could have had his pick. He didn't grab one. He never has.

"I heard the first time, the guy gets his choice [of hats], but I never noticed," Hossa said. "I don't know what they do with the hats and have never asked about it."

He still has the puck from his first hat trick with the Thrashers, but has no interest in saving somebody's hat.

Neither does Ilya Kovalchuk. He's never kept a hat after scoring three goals at home.

"I don't, I just [have them] throw it in the box," he said. "There's a box in Philips Arena for all the hats."

It's the hat-trick case, located on the arena's main concourse. There, fans can see every hat thrown to the ice after a hat trick since the start of the Thrashers' third season. Decals on the front of the display give details of each home hat trick that helped contribute to the collection.

It was an idea stolen from the Columbus Blue Jackets, after the Thrashers vice president of marketing, Jim Pfeifer, toured their arena. The idea has been a popular one with fans.

(Via Kukla's Korner)

Pimp my zamboni

This is the "Fan Zam", a pimped-out zamboni that the Dallas Stars use at their games.

Specs, according to Kukla's Korner:

• Seats 8 people
• 3 Xbox 360’s on board
• Fog machine
• Hydraulic auto ride suspension
• Strobe lights
• 22-inch wheels
• 110 cubic inch Harley-Davidson engine
• 9 mph