About damn time

I am taking a quick break from my end-of-semester insanity to write this post because of a story I just read from TSN. The Hockey Hall of Fame has amended its bylaws in a move that essentially opens the door to deserving women candidates - finally.

Until now the Hall has allowed a maximum of four inductees, of either sex, each season. Given the dominance in HHOF voting of the NHL over international leagues and competitions, the fact that there is no solid women's league, and the relative newness of the women's game (the first World Championship was held in 1994 and the first Olympics in 1998) this has meant that the odds of a female player or builer gaining entry were slim to none.

As of next year the Hall will consider a maximum of four male and two female candidates. In the last decade we have witnessed some legends in the women's game, so it is great to hear that the likes of Cammi Granato, Hayley Wickenheiser and Cassie Campbell* will likely be enshrined in the near future.

* In case you're wondering, Cassie Campbell will get in for her accomplishments on the ice rather than for her job as part of the Hockey Night in Canada broadcast crew. Although she sure did a bang-up job with Kraft Hockeyville this year, right? Right?

There are still a lot of organizational problems with women's hockey. Domestically, there is no sound North American league. And internationally, the US and Canada remain lightyears ahead of other countries in their development. But hopefully this will change in the near future - the 2010 Olympics will provide an interesting barometer to gauge the development of second-tier nations such as Sweden, Finland and - yes - China.

But despite these problems there are still some great players who have shone in the World Championship and Olympic spotlight. And this is made all the more impressive by the fact that these women are amateur athletes who must juggle their personal and professional lives with the rigours of competing in hockey at an international level.

As for the lack of competition between Canada/US and the rest, Sweden's historic upset of the United States in the 2006 Olympic semi-finals gives hope that this balance of power is slowly shifting.

So, as the women's game evolves, it is only appropriate that the Hockey Hall of Fame also shows that it can - gasp! - change with the times. The Hall has been criticized in the past for its unwillingness to adjust to new realities and to shed its NHL bias. But at least it is now showing that it is flexible, and hopefully this will soon be demonstrated by the induction of the deserving female candidates that it has thus far ignored.

My sudden love affair with a Deutsche Eishockey-Liga team

So I have recently become a huge fan of the Eisbären Berlin (Berlin Polar Bears) of the German Ice Hockey League, the Deutsche Eishockey-Liga (DEL for short). Why? How? Well, it's not just because Andrei Lomakin played for them from 1995-97. Actually it has nothing to do with Andrei Lomakin, who until today hadn't crossed my mind since about 1992. No, the Eisbären won my heart for other reasons.

The first time I came across the Eisbären was in Berlin last October. I knew that there is a pretty good hockey league in Germany (probably the fourth or fifth best league in Europe) and was hoping I might get a chance to see a game. Sadly my schedule would not permit it. However, upon arriving I did see immediate signs of popular support for the Eisbären in the form of a billboard advertizing tickets.

I stumbled across the Eisbären just a few hours later, when I stopped into for a coffee at Dunkin' Donuts. And before I go any further, yes I too was shocked to learn that there was a Dunkin' Donuts in Berlin of all places. It's not even ubiquitous in the United States - there is no location, for example, in Seattle.

However there it was, smack-dab in the middle of the Zoologischer Garten plaza. I knew that America runs on Dunkin'. I had no idea that Berlin does as well.

Anyway, back to the Eisbären. So the hockey club has a star player named Constantine Braun, who is a draft pick of the LA Kings, and his nickname is apparently "Brownie." So, naturally, the Eisbären, Herr Braun and Dunkin' Donuts teamed up to promote both the hockey club and, you guessed it, Dunkin' Donuts brownies. You could purchase a brownie and Eisbären tickets in one amazing combo.

Needless to say, I was impressed. Hockey, my second favourite multinational coffee chain and bilingual puns make quite the triple threat.

Fast forward five months. I discovered that the Vancity Theatre is showing a variety of hockey-themed movies. Of course the line-up features the cult classic Slap Shot, the acclaimed The Rocket and, awesomely, the unintentionally hilarious Jean-Claude Van Damme masterpiece Sudden Death. One movie stood out to me though, a documentary that I had never heard of: Home Game.

From the Vancity Theatre website:

"The Berlin Eisbarens (Polar Bears) are a professional hockey team with a fanatical following in the depressed, former East Berlin district of Hohenschonhausen. Writer-director Pepe Danquart ( Hell on Wheels ) was commissioned to make a film about the team and their fans despite never having been to a hockey game. The result speaks volumes about the growing gap between the East and West in the supposedly re-unified Germany in a perceptive, funny, enlightening and always entertaining manner. While the film does present a fair bit of on-ice action and dressing-room ritual, it also uses hockey as a vehicle to show the unwillingness of the “Ossies” (East Germans) to kowtow to the cutthroat capitalist ethos of the “Wessies” (West Germans) and the West's incomprehension of the East's desire to be recognized as different."

Wow - does that sound like a great film or what? It was only after reading this description and some quick Wikipedia research that I realized that the team featured in this film is the same one that won me over with its quirky marketing campaign at Berlin Dunkin' Donuts stores.

And then the hook:

"The official song of the Eisbären Berlin is "Hey, wir wollen die Eisbären seh'n" (approximately "Yeah, We Wanna See The Polar Bears"), recorded by veteran East German ban the Puhdys in 1997. The song became a popular tune in German mountain resorts during après-ski parties, and went on to appear on several winter-themed music compilations. It has also been adopted by the club's Russian namesake, HC Dynamo Moscow, and could be heard at their games during the 2008/09 season" (Wikipedia).

There are few things I love more in sports than a rockin' team anthem (something, I might add, the Canucks are sorely missing - a subject I intend to write about on this blog in the future). And boy does Eisbären Berlin have a good tune, compliments of 40-year rock n' roll vets (!) Die Puhtys. Here it is:



Pretty good, eh? It's even better when played over the PA with the crowd singing along. Especially when accompanied by a killer jumbotron presentation featuring, amongst other visual effects, a goalie stopping a puck in front of the Brandenburg Gate:



How could the players and fans not be fired up after that kind of an intro? I'd still be pumped halfway through the second!

Sure the Eisbären have enjoyed a recent run of success lately, capturing the DEL championship in three of the last four years. And sure checking out their roster allows you to finally discover what happened to Stefan Ustorf (remember him? No?). But the club's true charm lies in its passionate fans, creative promotional efforts and, of course, lights-out-awesome theme song.

And that, my friends, why I am now officially a fan of Eisbären Berlin.

Own Goals Addendum

The segue clip to the SportsCentre Top 10 caused the Toronto Sun to run the headline "Brian McKlutz." And yes, because it is the Toronto Sun, it was the headline on the front page of the newspaper. Because, y'know, the Maple Leafs are always more important than anything else that happens in the world. You can check out the cover here.

Additionally, if this Top 10 had been featured this season, this now-infamous Ryan O' Byrne own goal would no doubt have featured highly on the list:



The O'Byrne own goal sent the game to overtime, where the Canadiens lost. This are the same Canadiens who are battling to stay in playoff contention. And if they miss out on the playoffs by one point... well, O'Byrne might just become as big a goat in Montreal as Steve Smith is in Edmonton.

Analyzing the Canucks moves at the Trade Deadline

....................

Oh yeah. They didn't make any moves.

Actually I'm pretty okay with this. The big rumour was Kevin Bieksa, Mason Raymond and a 1st-round pick to Florida for Jay Bouwmeester, which is very steep unless Bouwmeester was guaranteed to resign with the Canucks.

So standing pat, putting faith in Luongo and Co. and not giving away prominent roster players for unproven playoff-performers (cough, Calgary, cough!) seems like a decent move. It was a slow deadline, with so many teams still in playoff contention and fears of a reduced cap scaring away GMs from long-term contract commitments, so making no moves doesn't seem like the worst thing to happen.

It is, however, quite dull. So for entertainment purposes here is a SportsCentre Top 10 Own Goals. They're not all hockey, but they are all highly entertaining. Plus who can complain about seeing the infamous Steve Smith own goal one more time?