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Preparations underway at Fenway Park

Jeff Sinkiewicz — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 04:57:12 +0000

The ice for the 2010 Winter Classic has arrived at Fenway Park as the trucks rolled in this morning to the legendary ball park. With the big game just three weeks away and there is a lot of work to be done. So who is responsible for the construction of this winter wonderland?

Meet Dan Craig, the NHL facilities operation manager. Dan brings 38 years of ice making experience to Beantown and assures the hockey community that they will not be disappointed. Here is a few questions and answers about the ice that will be constructed on the infield of Fenway Park. The NHL has set up a live web cam from the park, see it live here.

Transcript – Dan Craig, NHL’s Facilities Operation Manager

Q: How does this work from the truck to the ice?

“What it is… is it’s similar to your freezer. This is similar to the little compressor in the back of a [refrigerator] and the coils on the back of the fridge are the piping that goes into the floor. What we do is we take the truck and we park it out on the street and then we put the pipes down to the floor and we have a portable floor that we put together. And all the solution from the truck flows down into the floor, turns around and comes back and we make sure that the floor is nice and cold.”

Q: So the truck essentially makes the ice?

“Well, it keeps the floor cold so that we can put water on it to freeze it. That’s what it does. This is the largest portable refrigeration system that is known to us in the world.”

Q: Was this system designed specifically for the Winter Classic?

“Yes it was. It was designed over the summer after the Buffalo game basically because there was a certain situation that happened during that particular event. The National Hockey League and I sat down and we just said that it would be better for us moving forward that we had our own equipment. I was able to have my own crew that we were able to bring in, so that I would not have such a high stress level.”

Q: How much did this unit cost?

“This particular unit, the truck it self was $800,000 and the portable floor was about $600,000. So we’re over $1.5 million. And then the floor, we bought that. We also had our own boards. The boards that we used in Buffalo belong to us. We’ve had our board system for 10 years and we’ve also now purchased two smaller zambonies to go with the system we have.”

Q: Have you done anything… is this system different than the first one you used in Buffalo?

“This is totally different from Buffalo. It’s exactly the same as the one used at Wrigley Field, so from Wrigley Field on – we’re using exactly the same system every year.”

Q: And this is a better system?

“Oh very much. This is state of the art. Everything is computerized on it. If we had the system set up right now, we have a system that we put within the floor that sends a signal through a Blackberry or a computer, wherever we are, I can help prevent it if I have a problem with the system, it will signal me that I have to leave now or I can stay here and I can eat.”

Q: Are there any unique challenges that Fenway Park poses compared to other sites in the past?

“No, it’s fairly similar to what we had last year at Wrigley. The run from the truck to Fenway is going to be a little bit shorter. So if we have a warmer day we will be able to have a quicker recovery on our system, compared to what we would have if it were warmer at Wrigley. We had had quite a run, we had over 450 feet of run on.”

What if it’s way above freezing on New Year’s Day?

That’s an envelope we haven’t pushed yet. We want to make sure the system we have engineered and designed will get us to what we need to have. For me saying that we won’t have a problem at 50 (degrees) I know in my heart of hearts, but until we get there and we push the system, what to we really have.

What kind of challenges do you have in the event of rain or snow?

That will depend on how much rain and how much snow. In Buffalo we had a lot of snow and from there we developed a program.
As for rain, that would be a game day decision by Gary Bettman and Colie Campbell. They would come to us on the hockey operations side and ask us how it’s impacting the ice surface and how we can keep up. For me, we have the machinery and the personnel to stay on top of the problem.

Could heavy rains postpone the event?

It will impact the play of the game faster than it would impact the condition of the ice because of the speed that this game is played. We’ll be able to freeze the rain that falls. But a player playing the game with a visor and skating as fast as he can – if it’s 38 degrees and raining, that’s cold. It’s like pins and needles. That would be one of the things between Colie Campbell and the commissioner as to when we delay or when we cancel.

source: NHL Network

NHL Round up – week ending 11/22/09

Jeff Sinkiewicz — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 14:43:45 +0000

The NHL has finished the first quarter of the season. The theme so far this season seems to be injuries, swine flu and hits from behind to name a few. Credit to the NHL as they have clamped down on the vicious hits to a degree. The latest injury goes to the Red Wing’s Niklas Kronwall as he was the recipient of a leg check from Montreal’s Georges Laraque on Saturday night. Although the trip was called by the officials, the Red Wings are calling it a dirty hit. The NHL agreed with Detroit and suspended Laraque early Monday evening for 5 games.

Ovechkin scored a goal in his return against the Rangers and the Caps haven’t won since, losing to the Habs on Thursday and handing the Leafs victory on Saturday. The Bruins will finally get Marc Savard back tonight as they visit the Blues in St.Louis.

The battle of the cellar dweller’s played out pretty much how I expected it. Bad goal-tending and a high scoring affair. The Bruins had some interest in this game and it wasn’t to see old friend Phil Kessel who by the way did not have one point in the 5 goals Toronto scored…still miss him? Anyways, the reason the Bruins have interest in the progress of Toronto is the repercussions of the Kessel trade. The Bruins own the Leafs first round draft pick and the way it is going right now, the B’s are looking at the number one pick overall.

On that note, the leafs go out on Saturday night against one of the best teams in the East and beats them in a shootout after a 1-1 tie. Some things don’t make any sense and that is one of them. Now we saw hockey’s version of a rally cap going on as the Leaf players wore their helmets backwards on the bench during the shootout. And there was several thousand Leaf fans that attended their morning skate for support.

Streaks

One of the hottest teams in the NHL right now has been the Chicago Blackhawks who are riding a 7 game win streak and are 8-1-1 in their last 10. Rookie goaltender Antti Niemi stopped all 30 shots he faced Sunday night against the Vancouver Canucks to get his first career shutout.

After a shaky start, the Nashville Predators have something working for them of late as they are 8-2-0 in their last 10, winning the last 5.

Both the Sharks and Blue Jackets are 6-1-3 in their last 10 games. San Jose has found themselves first in the West thanks to their recent hot streak. Another team to watch for is the Detroit Red Wings who have picked up the pace lately going 7-2-1 in the last 10.

After stopping New Jersey’s run for the road record at 9 games, Philly beat the Kings but has now lost the last 2 games. The Flyers’ are 7-3 in their last 10.

The Canes finally snapped their 14 game skid and have now won 3 of their last 4. Manny Legace has been holding the fort down for the injured Cam Ward. The Hurricanes and Maple Leafs have been playing a game of leap frog all season for the worst record in the East.

Home Sweet Home

There are 2 teams in the NHL that have not suffered a loss at home yet. The San Jose Sharks are 7-0-2 and the Lightning who are 5-0-4. Both teams are home on Wednesday night with the Sharks hosting the Blackhawks for a battle of the titans. Tampa Bay should have no problem keeping their record in tact as they host the Leafs. Carolina is the only team without a win on the road so far at 0-7-3.

Key Match-ups coming up this week

The game of the week is clearly on Wednesday night as the 2nd place Blackhawks visit the first place Sharks at the tank in a Western conference battle. As I mentioned before, San Jose has not lost a game at home yet. The Eastern Conference has a similar match up on Wednesday night when the 3rd place Sabres visit the 1st place Capitals in DC. Both teams have struggled a bit lately but any time you put a top scorer like Ovechkin facing a top goaltender like Miller, you will be entertained.

Tonight you have the 3rd place Avalanche who have struggled of late hosting the Philadelphia Flyers who are 5th in the East. Friday, the Bruins have their annual noon time start and this year they face the 4th place leafs. With Savard and Lucic back, this will be a great battle.

Retired and Un-Retired

Brendan Shanahan Retired after 21 seasons in the NHL, you can read my article on Shanahan here. Peter Forsberg decided to stay in Sweden and influences Markus Naslund to come out of retirement to team up together to play with Modo.

H1N1 hits the Boston Bruins

Jeff Sinkiewicz — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 15:52:13 +0000

The Boston Bruins Twitter site has reported that David Krejci has been diagnosed with the H1N1 Virus. Krejci will be out of tonight’s line up against the Montreal Canadiens. Krejci will be isolated from the rest of the team until he is symptom and fever free for 24 hours. This is another huge blow to an ailing line up for the B’s.

“Like most people, we are taking many precautions to try to prevent our players and staff from contracting the H1N1 virus,” said Chiarelli. “Our medical staff is working with David to get him healthy as soon as possible, and our players and staff will continue to take precautions with hopes of preventing the spread of the virus to others in the organization.” *from BostonBruins.com

NHL’s Trick or Treats

Jeff Sinkiewicz — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 15:41:49 +0000

Happy Halloween to everyone from Stick to Hockey. Today I decided to throw together a quick “trick” or “treat” article about some of the who’s hot and who’s not in the NHL so far this season. Here is a few stand outs for you.

Treats

I don’t think anyone is hotter than L A Kings foward, Anze Kopitar right now in the NHL tallying 8 points in his last 3 games including a natural hat trick against Dallas on Thursday night. The Kings early success this season has a lot to do with Kopitar.

The Colorado Avalanche out to a great start and best in the west need to give goaltender Craig Anderson a pat on the back. Anderson leads the league with wins (10) and is sporting a 2.04 GAA and a .939 save %.

Speaking of goalies, Ryan Miller of the Buffalo Sabres is leading the league in save % (.944) and GAA (1.65) . Miller is still undefeated at 8-0-1, Buffalo is 3rd in the east at 8-1-1.

The New York Rangers got a very good treat aquiring Marian Gaborik from the Minnesota Wild. Gaborik has 10 goals and 8 assist as he sits 5th in the league for points. The much anticipated return to Minnesota last night was a let down as Gaborik was out with a leg injury.

Tricks

Nathan Horton of the Florida Panthers has been less than impressive with a mere 2 goals and a -3. Those are not the numbers that the Panthers were expecting out of Horton when they gave him that 4 million dollar contract. There has also been trade rumors circulating with Horton’s name attached.

The Detroit Red Wings are in the market for a goaltender as Chris Osgood could have passed his prime. Osgood , one game over .500 and a dismal 3.41 GAA and a .882 save %, there is no surprise on why Detroit is shopping.

A big part of the Carolina Hurricanes success a few years ago when they won the Stanley Cup was the outstanding play of goaltender Cam Ward. This season Ward has started out very shaky with a 2-6 record.

Have a safe and Happy Halloween!

Malkin and Luongo sidelined, Hasek may miss Olympics

Jeff Sinkiewicz — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 02:03:13 +0000

The injury bug continues in the NHL with two more stars going to the sidelines. Pittsburgh Penguins star, Evgeni Malkin will miss the next 2 to 3 weeks with a shoulder strain. Malkin has played in 254 consecutive games after missing his first 4 professional games. That streak will obviously come to an end.

Vancouver Canucks goalie, Roberto Luongo will miss at least the next two games as the team travels to sunny California to face the Kings tonight and the Ducks tomorrow night. Luongo has a hairline fracture of a rib on his right side.

Dominic Hasek at 44 years of age was going to make a run to play in the 2010 Olympics and that now seems to be unlikely. Hasek suffered a thigh injury playing in the Czech league this past weekend and will be out for 3 weeks.

2 players injured, one suspension… shame on the NHL

Jeff Sinkiewicz — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 14:42:38 +0000

Last week we saw what appeared to be three dirty and/or cheap shots in the NHL. The NHL’s disciplinarian Colin Cambell obviously doesn’t see it that way as he hands out just one suspension for 3 games to Tuomo Ruutu for giving Darcy Tucker a concussion and 40 stitches.

Over the weekend I sounded off about cheap shots and I faulted Cambell for giving just 3 games to Tuammo Ruuttu on the hit that hospitalized Darcy Tucker and his latest non call comes to Mike Richards who will not receive any suspension or fine for his hit on Florida’s David Booth who was also hospitalized.

Here’s the irony of the NHL suspension policy. Eugeny Artyukhin of Anaheim received the same 3 game suspension for a “slew-footing” (tripping from behind with your leg) penalty in Wednesday nights game on Dallas Stars defenseman Matt Nickanen who was also injured with a head injury.

NHL commissioner, Gary Bettman has on several occasions said that he wants this kind of behavior stopped. The NHL is also trying to cut down the fighting in the league.

According to NHL Senior Vice President of Hockey Operations Mike Murphy, who was in charge of making the final ruling, there were a number of reasons that led to the decision not to suspend Richards: he did not target Booth’s head; he did not leave his feet to deliver the blow; he did not hit an unsuspecting player; he is not a repeat offender; and he did not hit Booth late, as it was determined the blow was delivered less than a half-second after Booth passed the puck. *source NHL.com

That being said, how is it possible to turn the other way on these actions this week. The Referees on the ice did their job, Murphy and Cambell have not. Not handing out the proper suspensions has invited retaliation actions the next time the teams meet.