Mick Kern appears courtesy of Live From Wayne Gretzky’s

Wilco, without a doubt the best band in the world at this moment, released their latest album last week.  Titled Wilco (The Album), it was eagerly anticipated by a legion of fans and music media who, for the most part, have shared a similar sentiment about the new release…

While the album’s good, it’s not necessarily up to the high standards of past Wilco offerings.

Which is unfair, and probably inaccurate, to already have decided the fate of a release a scant seven days into its public life (yes, it was available earlier on the band’s website).  Still, take your pick of some of their earlier work…Being There, Summerteeth, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, A Ghost Is Born, Sky Blue Sky.  All fine albums, with each one setting up massive expectations for the next release.  And so far, Jeff Tweedy and crew have managed to scale those self-inflicted peaks, though in each case, it’s taken some time for fans and critics to have their eyes opened to the gems contained within.

In an earlier life, I reviewed new releases by a wide spectrum of bands.  What always bothered me was the need, due to the magazine deadline, to pass judgement on an album after only, at the most, a half-dozen listens.  Some records/CD’s require time to reveal all their hidden beauty; a cursory listen may turn up the radio-friendly hits, but not the real gold underneath.  If anything, a music reviewer/magazine should be required to revisit a reviewed album six months later.

While listening to Wilco’s latest offering on the way to work today, the immediate lukewarm reaction to it reminded me of much of the hockey world’s reaction to what GM Bob Gainey has done with the Montreal Canadiens in the past two weeks.

After watching his team take a nosedive after the All-Star break, firing head coach Guy Carbonneau, taking over behind the bench himself, and getting swept by the Boston Bruins in the first round of the playoffs (all this during the overblown 100th anniversary celebrations), Gainey is understandably under considerable pressure to improve the lot of the Canadiens for the 2009-10 campaign.

He’s cast his lot with underachieving goaltender Carey Price, which might, in part, explain why Jacques Martin was brought aboard as head coach.  Gainey was facing a summer of significant roster turnover, as a number of players were set to become unrestricted free agents on July 1st.

While many in the media, and fans as well, were curious as to how Gainey would manage this off-season, most pointed to the fact that the Habs would benefit from having a lot of cap room to play around with.  Surely they’d be able to land the big stud centre the team has lacked since…since…Pete Mahovlich???

What about the Vinnie rumours?  How about Gaborik or Hossa?  Should they keep Komisarek or go a different direction?  And what about Kovalev and Kaptain Koivu?

So many questions, and Gainey began to answer them by engineering a pre-July 1st trade with the similarly underachieving New York Rangers.  Suddenly, Scott Gomez was a Hab.  That deal seemed to knock over a series of dominoes, which ended up revealing the names of Hal Gill, Mike Cammalleri,  Brian Gionta and Jaroslav Spacek, not to mention Perry Pearn.

Almost immediately, the reviews on Montreal Canadiens (The Album) were mixed, at best.  Were the Habs a better team now than they were in April?  Did they address any of the myriad of issues that faced this team going into the summer?  Are all these players too small?  Okay, Hal Gill excepted, but in his case, is he too slow?  Where’s that stud centre we’re all been clamouring for?  Why allow Kovalev to leave…and for Ottawa of all places?  Has he ever spent any real time there?  (To butcher Sinatra…I wanna sleep in the city that never wakes up).

Some have noted that Gainey and his Canadiens have moved neither forwards nor backwards with all these free agent signings and trades, but rather they have moved sideways.  As in, yes, things have changed, the team sports a new face today, but to what end?

This past weekend, a few of us from NHL Home Ice made the 10-hour car trip from Toronto, down over to Chicago (the home of Wilco), to catch the Cubs and Milwaukee Brewers at Wrigley on July 4th.  Being baseball season, there are White Sox and Cubs stuff everywhere in that town.  The NFL Bears were well represented, as were the Bulls.  Even noticed a couple of guys wearing Blackhawk caps, and more than a few shop windows displaying Blackhawk jerseys.

Regardless, for all the justified hype about the re-emergence of the Chicago Blackhawks, the Windy City is first-and-foremost an NFL town, then a baseball town, then the Bulls, and then the Hawks, make no mistake about it.

While we were there, the scandal involving possible contract errors by the Blackhawks were all the buzz back in hockey country, meaning Canada.  It was on the general sportscasts, as each and every hockey-related story is.

Nary a peep in Chicago, and I was monitoring the local television stations, and had my AM radio with me to listen to 670 The Score.  They had a brief mention of it, before going back to discussing the pennant chances of the Cubbies, and what Jay Cutler meant to the Bears.

Yet in Montreal, a hundred or so fans of the Canadiens held a rally to demand that GM Bob Gainey re-sign Alex Kovalev.  Have they seen Kovalev actually play these past few seasons?  Madness, I tell you.

Blackhawks’ GM Dale Tallon can screw up by signing over-priced over-rated free agents Brian Campbell and Cristobal Huet, and the hardcore fan base in that city will pillorize him for it, but he doesn’t have to face the same degree of pressure as a Bob Gainey, or a Brian Burke, or a Ken Holland.  While it’s on the radar, hockey gets lost in cities such as Chicago.  Let’s face it, hockey gets lost in almost every American city.  Make no mistake about it.

Yet in Canada, where apparently we have nothing better to do, every story is magnified, often far beyond its relative importance.  But that’s the way it is up here in Hockeyland.  Which helps to explain the overwhelming number of thumbs down reviews about Gainey and his moves so far this off-season.  We all think we know better up here.  There’s no allowance to actually see what these new acquisitions might do come October, we’ve already passed judgement.

50,000,000 critics can’t be wrong, but like all those stellar Wilco albums, this one will take some time to see if Gainey has engineered a masterpiece, or if all those signings were just the thrashings of a desperate man.

- Mick Kern

Mick Kern appears courtesy of Live From Wayne Gretzky’s

Darren Pang appears courtesy of the Phoenix Coyotes

I have had a really great experience again working the playoffs for TSN in Canada and for NBC in the United States. It has given me the competitive view on the strengths and weaknesses of the clubs that have advanced in their “Quest for the Cup.”

Here is my take on the Western Conference Finals between Detroit and Chicago.

The keys for Chicago:

• Stay out of the penalty box. The PP’s of both teams are incredible, Nos. 1 and 2 in the postseason. The Hawks got in the “kitchen” of both Calgary and Vancouver with their constant chirping after the whistle. Adam Burish vs. Jarome Iginla and Dustin Byfuglien vs Roberto Luongo are good examples in both series. Detroit won’t bite, let alone nibble on this tactic. Don’t waste energy.

• Challenge in the neutral zone. The key to Detroit is its entries into the offensive zone. The Hawks forwards are quick and they do a great job of “cutting the ice in half” as their weakside forward will attack the puck in the neutral zone.

• Composure in the defensive zone. The minute you don’t trust your partner in your own zone is the minute the Wings will spin you right round, baby right round…so stay composed and trust your position and teammates. No running around chasing pucks.

The keys for Detroit:

• Keep your foot on the pedal. The Hawks have been as good as the Hurricanes at coming back when the game seems done. They are a resilient group with great youthful enthusiasm and skill. If you have a lead, keep adding to it. Wayne Gretzky was the best ever at putting the dagger in as deep as it could go.

• Attack the Hawks “D.” The Wings have four lines that can go all the time, so the pressure has to be put on the Hawks “D.” Brent Seabrook and Duncan Keith get pucks out of their own zone in a hurry and have great chemistry. Brian Campbell has defensive liabilities below his own goal line, but has been good as the playoffs have gone along.

• Get four lines rolling early. The Hawks will use their four lines and they can all skate, so the pace will be furious. The Wings have the same depth, and have received added skill and speed in the likes of Darren Helm, Jiri Hudler and now Justin Abdelkader to go along with Kris Draper who returned for Game 7 vs Anaheim. The Wings have the advantage of playing Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk together, as they did when they lacked offense in the Anaheim series when it was tied 1-1.

- Panger

Darren Pang appears courtesy of the Phoenix Coyotes

Wayne describes last night’s game against Chicago and what the Coyotes must do to regroup:

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- Todd

Here’s a breakdown of the physical nature of the Chicago/Phoenix series, what a power play goal is really all about, the realization that the Coyotes now expect to win at home, and an honest answer from the coach on how he really feels about Patrick Kane not playing tonight!

Coach Gretzky PART 1:

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Coach Gretzky PART 2:

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See you at 620 on Fox Sports Arizona with Quest Coyotes Live!

- Todd

The NHL’s Winter Classic was a blast. It is very difficult to compare it to being at last year’s snow-filled, majestic afternoon in Buffalo where Sidney Crosby scored in the shootout to win the game for Pittsburgh in front of 72,000 passionate fans.

This outdoor classic at Wrigley Field combined everything. It started with a village. A community. Addison, Clark and Waverly. It started out with old-time hockey bitterness, as Detroit’s Dan Cleary was hit cleanly by Brent Seabrook of the Hawks. Cleary ended up in the Hawks bench. That set the tone. The day was a great one. The Wings showed why they hold the Stanley Cup.

It was a pleasure to be there, an honor to be a part of the two outdoor games in the USA. The Blackhawks, Red Wings and the NHL could not have been more organized or looked so good.

OK, that’s over with now, and the season really begins.

How will the Hawks respond? They have been the talk of the NHL, along with the Bruins, and they have been preparing for the Classic all season long, only to lose the game and consecutive games against the team they emulate, the Wings.

Will they have gas in the tank to challenge for the Central Division title? Or, will this deflate them? Can they dig down deep enough for the rest of the regular season?

They sure played well in their next home game after the Classic, beating a tough team from Calgary, 5-2, on Sunday night.

They are a young and hungry organization that is lead by Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane, but there is much more to this team than just two highly-skilled players. The Hawks have underrated Patrick Sharp to go along with speedy Martin Havlat, a potential UFA. They have a Calder candidate in Kris Versteeg as a top-six forward, and he is a good one.

They have a future Selke Award candidate in David Bolland, a former second-round pick from the London Knights that has been patient in developing an NHL game and a role that gets the trust of his coaches. He and the Coyotes Martin Hanzal will be contenders for that award for the next 10 seasons, in my opinion.

On the blue line, they have a great tandem in Seabrook and Duncan Keith. Keith does the skating and when he gets in trouble he dishes it to Seabrook, who has some good hockey sense. They complement each other very well. They signed Brian Campbell to a huge UFA deal, and he adds an element of offense, flair, and hockey sense to go along with a great deal of experience in the playoffs.

Before the season began, the question I asked Hawks General Manager Dale Tallon was a simple one: “What are you going to do with $13 million worth of goalies and who will play?”

Dale told me both Cristobal Huet and Nikolai Khabibulin would play. I will never be that naive to think he really figured that in the early days of January that would be the case. Heck, they told Khabibulin to stay home during training camp at one point. They thought he may even work out a deal in Russia.

Just goes to show you, patience and timing are essential. The best goalie is Khabibulin. That is simply my opinion. He has presence in the net. He can carry a team. He has shown that, although there have been injuries and inconsistent times in the past with Khabby. He was also on a losing team in a losing environment at the time. When he signed there originally, he thought they were going to be winners. They were not even close then, but the building blocks had started. This core of players lost a lot of games together, and now they are eager to be winners … together.

The Blackhawks locker room at Wrigley Field. Cristobal Huet is a solid goalie. He can get on a roll, as he did last season with Washington late in the season. He can also get into funks, and sometimes takes a long time to get out of them. He is a quality person that works hard though, and they are a darn good tandem.

The Coyotes and Hawks will play in Glendale on Tuesday, Jan. 6, in a re-match of a December game in Chicago, in which the Hawks gave the Coyotes a thumping. Versteeg fought Kyle Turris in final seconds of the game and got a one-game suspension for it.

It will be an enormous game for both franchises after the Coyotes lost a four-point game in Anaheim on Sunday night in a battle for second place in the Pacific Division. They didn’t compete hard enough against a team that was without Teemu Selanne, Corey Perry, Francois Beauchemin and Kent Huskins.

What team will have the most gas in the tank as the real season begins? It begins on Tuesday in the desert. I can’t wait.

- Panger

I am on the plane, heading to the Windy City for the Outdoor Classic, and am getting more and more excited about the game!  I felt the same way last year, nervous, excited, not sure what to expect, broadcasting outdoors.

But this one IS different. Yes, I now know what to expect from the elements of an outdoor game, but this is closer to my heart. The Windy City. I lived in Chicago for 20 years. My son and daughter were born there. Loyola Medical Center in Maywood Illinois, saved our son,Tyler’s life. Twice. How can this not be a special place? We have some of our best friends still in this city. It will always be a special place.

I have been in broadcasting since I retired from the NHL in 1990. I played my last NHL game in the 1989 playoffs as a member of the Hawks, as we went all the way to the Western Conference Finals against the eventual Stanley Cup Champion Calgary Flames.

My career ended a year later. I was 26 years old.  I tore an ACL before game 5 in practice vs Calgary in 1989 and re-habbed it with current Hawks trainer Mike Gapski.  He was awesome. We went hard at it and I came back to the ice in roughly 4 1/2 months. My surgeon was Dr. William Clancy, a man and surgeon that was way ahead of his time. We were aggressive and proactive and they did a great job of getting me back on ice in time to re-join the organization in time for the 1990 IHL regular season ending and the Play-offs with the Indianapolis Ice.

I had the pleasure of playing for Darryl Sutter, one of the very best Hawks leaders, as we won the Turner Cup Championship.  I was back in Chicago for the summer and training hard as I really thought I could get back in the NHL for the next season.

I hit a major road bump. I re-injured my knee a month before training camp. Should never have been playing tennis on clay courts!  Back to the Alabama Medical Center for repairs, and my career was in serious jeopardy. I hurried back from Alabama, where Dr.Clancy performed his 2nd surgery on my left knee, and 3rd overall on that same knee. I had to get back as the Hawks were having a going away party at Butterfield Country Club, for the recently traded Denis Savard.

Savvy is truly one of the very best. Love the guy. He deserves a lot of credit for this great young team in Chicago. He put his heart and soul into the franchise.  He was a great teammate and friend. He was my neighbor and we drove to the Stadium for many practices. Full of life. Smoked a lot of cigarettes. Still had great energy. He loved getting on the ice. He loved to dangle, laugh, deke you out of your jock strap and then do it again.  He was just traded to Montreal for Chris Chelios, a Chicago native that grew up loving Stan Mikita, Dick Butkis and the Chicago Bears.

As I get ready for the Outdoor Classic, I remember these things.  I remember how great a man Bill Wirtz was. He was loyal. He loved his players. He was a tough businessman. He taught you about loyalty and doing the little things the right way.  My 1st position with the Hawks when I retired was with WBBM News Radio 78, as they were the flagship station of the Hawks, the Mighty Blackhawks…you know the song.

Our studio before and after the game was in a small room, with a small bathroom in it. One night the Hawks weren’t very good and my partner, Brian Davis, started the show by having his mic nearly in the toilet, and he flushed it as we started the show….. ” Well….that about sums up the Hawks play tonight….”  We answered phone calls after games and tried as best we could to explain why Mr Wirtz wouldn’t put the Hawks on home TV. Tough to explain, but we did the best we could. Mr Wirtz would personally call me and say I was doing a ‘fine job’ with the callers. He always said, “I know it can’t be easy…”

Now its the Outdoor game in Chicago.  Wrigley Field.  Mark Grace and the boys. The Cubs. The summer sun beating down on the most loyal fans in all of sports. The ivory and bricks.

This morning I get up and look out the window of the Drake Hotel and for miles I see the shore and the Gold Coast. Oak Street beach is right below my window. A classic winter day as I get ready for the game.  I step outside and the brisk wind grabs my attention. It is the wind. Its not that cold, only 3 days before the game, but the wind will be the challenge for sure.

NBC did a great job last year in Buffalo letting the elements tell the story. The game was the story. The snow coming down. The players were cold and constantly wiping their eyes, face and visors if they had one on. Darryl Sydor started the game with one on, but ended the game without it. Too much maintenance, and dangerous as well as it was tough to see, even a few feet in front of you.

Our producer, Sam Flood, is an experienced hockey player himself, and makes sure the game is the main topic of conversation on the air. He allowed us, as broadcasters, simply tell the story. What is the wind like? What adjustments do the coaches have to make? Are the goalies able to see the puck? These are every analyst dream position to be in. Just relay the story to the audience. What a pleasure it was to be in that environment and hopefully the weather let’s us just tell the story.

Last year there were 72,000 passionate fans that wouldn’t leave their seats, all bundled up and trying to be as warm as they could be. It was truly a sight to behold. At one point, singing Neil Diamonds “Sweet Caroline”…and it sounded good!  Between the benches with skates on made it unique, as I hopped over the boards many times to interview a player, show the viewers the built up snow on the ice and how they have to battle the elements. I even tossed a snowball at the main men behind the mic’s, Doc Emrick and Ed Olczyk, a former teammate of mine with the Hawks, before he was traded to Toronto.

The fans love this stuff.

Casual fans love to see an outdoor stadium with grown men playing the sport they love. The same way most of these guys competed as kids. We all started out on outdoor rinks or ponds when I was growing up. In the elements. In the snow. Facing adversity. Laughing. Competing.  I can’t wait to get to Wrigley.

Several years back, I was up in the scoreboard and my duty was to change the score as the Cubs were struggling. I had to place the old tin #’s in the right spot. It was hot and muggy. It was so cool to be up there. What an experience that was.

In a few days I am able to see the 1st NHL game played at Wrigley and I can’t wait. No need for anyone up in that old scoreboard.

The Wings and the Hawks. The defending Champs vs the Contender, a real legitimate contender. Datsyuk and Zetterberg against Kane and Toews.  Outdoors.  Let the temperature drop and let the game begin!

- Panger

The best thing about last night’s game in Chicago?  It’s over and it’s only one game.  Right?  Perhaps.  But only if this team responds on Wednesday night in Dallas.

Kris Versteeg’s scrap with Kyle Turris at the conclusion of the game is what Wayne is responding to midway into this post game presser.

Wayne’s post-game:

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To be honest, this one was over by the conclusion of the National Anthem.  The Coyotes didn’t come to play.Let’s see if they pay the price in Dallas.

- Todd

Not much needed to be said after this one.  The Coyotes were up one nothing in the first, two to one in the second, but couldn’t stand their own prosperity.  The Blues scored three straight in the second to take control of the game, then killed off two huge penalties in the third of what had become a one goal
game.

A game that frankly, the Coyotes, better than the Blues and with more man power, should have won.
The Coach lamented the lack of execution on the powerplay after it was all said and done.

Wayne’s comments:

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Now, back to back, in Chicago tonight against a very talented Blackhawk team in a tough building. This will be a huge test.  No Phoenix television tonight.  So, check it out on the Coyotes Radio Network, or online!

- Todd

Winless in their last three, the Coyotes have a day to work before they hit the road to North Carolina, Philadelphia, New York and Columbus. This will be a grueling trip. But first, they must digest losing in a shootout last night to Chicago. They came back, true. And yes, they got a point.

Listen to Coach Gretzky:

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There is something to build on in terms of grit. But what has happened since the game in Columbus last week is a mystery. Will the road help cure some of their ills?

We’ll find out soon enough.

- Todd

Let’s personalize this one, shall we? Tonight, one of the true great spirits in the world of pro sports takes to the ice for what will be his 900th career game. Shane Doan has reached that milestone, and for me, it seems like only yesterday when he was sent back to Springfield back in 97-98.  It was shocking for those of us covering the Coyotes.  He was “the future.”  What happened?  What was going wrong?

That’s ancient history now. Tonight we will celebrate his accomplishment on our coverage of the the Coyotes and the Blackhawks on Fox Sports Arizona. Pre-game at 7, face-off at 7:30.

Check out Wayne’s reaction to Shane’s 900th and just for the heckuva it, here’s the captain, as well:

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On a personal note, I have covered the NBA. the NFL, MLB, men’s and woman’s tennis, the LPGA, the PGA, the Senior Tour, NASCAR, CART, Formula One, college baseball, football and basketball.  Heck, I even broadcast from the unlimited Hydroplane races at Firebird Lake, and, yes, I have to admit, I pretended that “Gravedigger” and the Monster Truck event was a sporting event.  Never.  Not once, have I ever come across a person like Shane Doan.  I can’t imagine coming to the rink and the “Doaner” not being there.  Last man off the ice.  Sitting at his locker.  Making the bus wait … and that’s ok.

As he said today, “I love to play the game.”  Isn’t that what it is supposed to be like?

- Todd