"Ohh It's the final countdown, We're leaving together, The final countdown, We'll all miss her so It's the final countdown (the Final Countdown), Ohh, it's the final countdown" are the lyrics to the 80's hair band Europe's power ballad The Final Countdown as you can probably tell.  I thought the song, as cliche as it may be was quite appropriate as we finally count down to the Top 10 fanbases of the NHL. By this point on the list I've likely annoyed the fanbases of at least 1/2 of the league's teams.  So I'd like to pass on something that may have been ignored from my first article.  Every team has a portion of die hard fans that more or less have a strong emotional, financial and intellectual investment in their teams.  The size of that group of die hards does indeed vary by team, and some of these franchises do benefit from existing in areas where the game of hockey is a traditional part of life.  Does that mean every non-traditional hockey market is doomed to be rated amongst the league's worst?  Not necessarily.  It may be a bit easier to draw fans for the game of hockey in parts of the continent where it gets cold enough for lakes and rivers to freeze over but that doesn't mean they can shun their team if it is mired in a constant cycle of failure.  So the results of the list often surprise myself once the numbers are all tabulated.

I also understand how personal the feelings of a fan can be.  To be questioned or criticized is not taken lightly especially when it is about something you love.  Its why this series of articles can lead to a firestorm of comments, many of which are pretty harsh.  However, without stepping on individual toes I would ask that fans of those teams who feel greatly disrespected take a step back and ask themselves if it fair when you place your team against the 29 others in the league?  So with all that being said I will ask (knowing all too well that this as if you're asking people leaving a burning theatre to keep their voices down as they exit the building) that if you do comment, please keep it clean and tasteful.  But I welcome comments, but I will delete anything that gets vulgar.

Each of the league's 30 teams will be assessed on three basic criteria: 1. Attendance average for the last 3 seasons. This will entail tabulating the season average against the maximum capacity of the arena they currently play in based on statistics provided by The Hockey News' 2010-11 Yearbook. At least 75%-80.9% will equal 6.0, while anything below 75% capacity would equal a 5. 81%-85.9% will equal 7.0, 86%-89.9% equals 8.0. 90%-99% equals 9.0 and anything over 99% will yield a score of 10. 2. A simple Google search taking note of amount of blogs and team-related message boards listed as well as message board activity. Each component will be graded on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being outstanding or perfect and 0 being very poor. A portion of this grade will take into account the team's average finish during that span of time. In the case of online presence teams are awarded .1 point for every individual blog or team-focused message board that is out there and can receive a maximum score of 100 which would equal a 10 on the 1 to 10 scale with partial points included.  You may think this sounds like "Klingon Mathematics" but in my opinion it provides the best chance for true fairness even if its an 'attempt at scholarship'.  No, I do not want to tabulate users on message boards because those numbers can be highly misleading.  So for now I am going to stick to a website based count.  For every assessment there will be an explanation for the grade.  I would also like to toss out a small disclaimer. While the title of the article is the best and worst fans of the NHL it does not mean that all of the fans of any particular NHL team are bad. It just means the support for the team; one way or the other isn't as great as it may be between various teams. The team's will be listed with their total score tabulated next to it.

So let's get to the final countdown...

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Not sure what the weather is like where you are, but here in the Upper Midwest today is another glorious day.  It's in the low 70's, sunny and breezy.  After last week's temps in the 90's with high humidity, it's most definitely welcome.  Those kids who will be heading back to school, whether it be elementary, middle, high school or college, they should be hoping that the weather stays like this.  With the thought of the return of school, the sport on most people's minds these days is football.  My husband who is a high school football coach and teacher has been busy these past three weeks in hopes of getting the team ready for their first game tomorrow night.  Needless to say, the kids have to be loving the comfortable weather they've had these past few days.

With all the thoughts of the up-coming school year, I have to admit that those thoughts have taken priority.  Unfortunately, hockey hasn't been on my mind quite so much.  I've mentioned this before, but with the way hockey is covered in the United States, once free agency dies down, there's little thought or new hockey news until training camp starts.  While training camp starts next month, in the sports world that's still a long way off.  News comes in bit and pieces, and unless you're religious about checking the hockey websites out there, you just might miss something of interest.  If you're the kind of person who doesn't have time to check multiple sites, I suggest you register at an active hockey message board, because there's always someone there posting links to all the big news.

It was my reading the new messages at the Wild's official message board (which should be converting to a new platform sometime soon) that I caught today's bit of good news.  On February 12, 2011 as part of the 2011 Hockey Day Minnesota festivities, the Houston Aeros (the Wild's American Hockey League affiliate) will be playing at Xcel Energy Center.  While the Aeros have been part of the Hockey Day festivities, this will be the first time that the team will play in Minnesota for the celebration.  It won't be the first time that they've played in Minnesota however.  That last appearance was in March of 2005.  That game against Grand Rapids featured familiar Wild faces of Pierre-Marc Bouchard, Mikko Koivu, Brent Burns, and Josh Harding.  In this year's AHL match-up, the Aeros will be playing the Peoria Rivermen, which is the AHL affiliate of the St. Louis Blues, whom the Wild will be playing later that same evening.  The Wild will be announcing at a later a time a special double-header ticket package for those who wish to attend both the games hosted at Xcel Energy Center.

The Hockey Day Minnesota 2011 lineup is as follows:

Outdoor Games at Moorhead, Minnesota:

Game #1 ~ Wayzata vs Roseau
Game #2 ~ Moorhead vs Hill-Murray

College Game at Mariucci Arena (University of Minnesota):

University of Minnesota vs University of Denver

American Hockey League Game (Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul, Minnesota):

Houston Aeros (Minnesota) vs Peoria Rivermen (St. Louis)

National Hockey League Game (Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul, Minnesota):

Minnesota Wild vs St. Louis Blues

Hockey Day Minnesota is always a fun time to celebrate hockey at all its levels.  If you've ever attended the outdoor portion of the event or watched it on television you will notice all kids of all ages taking part.  While the outdoor portion features high school teams, you will see smaller practice rinks around the official rink where little kids are skating, shooting pucks, and playing pick-up games of their own.  It is that kind of "free range" hockey that Hockey Day Minnesota is really celebrating.  It is that unorganized hockey that many kids aren't participating enough in, as mentioned in the independent documentary, Pond Hockey.

With news like this, it can help us start thinking about the upcoming 2010-11 season.  Sure the weather outside doesn't make us think of hockey, but I suggest you take advantage of the weather we have right now.  Trust me, when it's January and it's hockey season and we're snowed in or it's too cold to go outside, you're going to think back to days like today.  Get out and enjoy it while it lasts, because like all good things they never last.

"Well I don't know why I came here tonight, I got the feeling that something ain't right, I'm so scared in case I fall off my chair, And I'm wondering how I'll get down the stairs, Clowns to the left of me, Jokers to the right, here I am, Stuck in the middle with you."  These are the lyrics to Stealers Wheel song Stuck in the Middle With You from 1972 where it eventually became a huge hit climbing up to #6 on the Billboard charts in 1973.  It was a song that sort of re-emerged in the cult classic Quentin Tarantino film Pulp Fiction.  So here we are, in the middle of the list, rankings 20 to 11 of the Best and Worst fanbases in the NHL.

There certainly is a reason why comedian and late-night talk show host David Letterman sticks to just doing a Top 10 list.  It doesn't get long and drawn out, and even if some jokes bomb it is almost a near certainty that some will do at least ok or pretty well.  I am not a big Letterman fan but I have little doubt a lot of people watch his show solely for the nightly Top 10 lists.  So what does this have to do with this list?  I understand that it probably is a bit long, afterall this is a 3-part article series but since we're talking about fans I think any fanbase is owed explanations for the grades that I have given.  It may not make them accept the grade, but it at least gives them an idea why their team earned what they did.  As I said earlier, comments are more than welcome (as long as its clean and relevant).

Just to reiterate for those that may not have seen the The Best and Worst Fans in the NHL: 21 to 30 article.  Each of the league's 30 teams will be assessed on three basic criteria: 1. Attendance average for the last 3 seasons. This will entail tabulating the season average against the maximum capacity of the arena they currently play in based on statistics provided by The Hockey News' 2010-11 Yearbook. At least 75%-80.9% will equal 6.0, while anything below 75% capacity would equal a 5. 81%-85.9% will equal 7.0, 86%-89.9% equals 8.0. 90%-99% equals 9.0 and anything over 99% will yield a score of 10. 2. A simple Google search taking note of amount of blogs and team-related message boards listed as well as message board activity. Each component will be graded on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being outstanding or perfect and 0 being very poor. A portion of this grade will take into account the team's average finish during that span of time. In the case of online presence teams are awarded .1 point for every individual blog or team-focused message board that is out there and can receive a maximum score of 100 which would equal a 10 on the 1 to 10 scale with partial points included.  No, I do not want to tabulate users on message boards because those numbers can be highly misleading.  So for now I am going to stick to a website based count.  For every assessment there will be an explanation for the grade.  I would also like to toss out a small disclaimer. While the title of the article is the best and worst fans of the NHL it does not mean that all of the fans of any particular NHL team are bad. It just means the support for the team; one way or the other isn't as great as it may be between various teams. The team's will be listed with their total score tabulated next to it.  So without further adieu, let's begin...

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It is that time of year again, no I am not talking about the start of NFL and NCAA football season.  I am not talking about time for the start of your favorite shows to begin another drama-filled season whether it be Big Brother or Desperate Housewives (I don't watch either, really I don't).  After all this is a hockey blog, so of course it has something to do with hockey (kind of).  What I'm talking about is that it is time for the 3rd annual Best and Worst Fans of the NHL!  Maybe an exclamation point was a bit much, but in the previous two editions of my annual fanbase rankings it generated to put it rather kindly, lots of readership and literally hundreds of comments.  Even a few from major newspapers and Yahoo!'s NHL hockey blogger "Puck Daddy" Greg Wyshynski.  Most of those comments, I cannot re-post here but I can tell you that when you challenge a fanbase you better get ready for a fight.  I've never feared that conflict, but at the same time I hope it stimulates some discussion.  Besides, is the Ilya Kovalchuk drama about the arbitrator's decision to rule in favor of the NHL's rejection of his 17-year deal really all that interesting?  Maybe its just me, but its more a sign of just how slow the NHL news has been this year (yes I fully grasp the rammifications of such a possible review of front-loaded long-term contracts).  So why not add some spice and give fans something to talk (or shout as the case may be) about?  Why not get people fired up a little; we are hockey fans noted for our passion, energy and dedication (at least some fanbases are).

Now it may come as a surprise that I am not the only one that does this; the prestigious financial news magazine Forbes also does an NHL Best and Worst fans.  Check it out for yourself from their 2009 rankings according to Forbes' Christina Settimi.

http://www.forbes.com/2009/12/17/nhl-best-and-worst-fans-business-sports-nhl-fans.html

I don't think its that great of an article and seems to lack analysis, and avoids ranking all 30 teams in the league and that probably was a reason it didn't create quite as much debate.  Tough debate points never made and reasons never given.  Yet it still feels a bit reassuring that this is not completely unexplored territory just by myself.  Anyways, let me explain yet again part of my method for my madness.

In my first Best and Worst list, I particularly caught the ire of New Jersey Devils fans.  They felt I completely overlooked their apparently massive online fanbase and that I did not give them nearly enough credit.  However, I explained prior to their tirades against me that if you're a good team the natural expectation that they have a healthy fanbase that sells out the arena each and every night.  The Devils were a great team, still one of the best in the Eastern Conference (at least during the regular season) but the fans were not showing up that well considering their success.  By that same logic I would be far more lenient or accepting of not-so-great attendance from fans of a team that has continually been a poor performer like the Florida Panthers for an example.  In my first version of the rankings I used that logic rather liberally when I considered my final judgments.  In my next version I took a more objective look towards a team's 'online presence' but even that did not stop people questioning my ability to tabulate those statistics.  So this year I am not going to change my guidelines for my rankings from 2009.  Here they are in case you forgot or have just discovered this page for the first time.

Each of the league's 30 teams will be assessed on three basic criteria: 1. Attendance average for the last 3 seasons. This will entail tabulating the season average against the maximum capacity of the arena they currently play in based on statistics provided by The Hockey News' 2010-11 Yearbook. At least 75%-80.9% will equal 6.0, while anything below 75% capacity would equal a 5. 81%-85.9% will equal 7.0, 86%-89.9% equals 8.0. 90%-99% equals 9.0 and anything over 99% will yield a score of 10. 2. A simple Google search taking note of amount of blogs and team-related message boards listed as well as message board activity. Each component will be graded on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being outstanding or perfect and 0 being very poor. A portion of this grade will take into account the team's average finish during that span of time. In the case of online presence teams are awarded .1 point for every individual blog or team-focused message board that is out there and can receive a maximum score of 100 which would equal a 10 on the 1 to 10 scale with partial points included.  You may think this sounds like "Klingon Mathematics" (thanks Litterbox Cats) but in my opinion it provides the best chance for true fairness even if its an 'attempt at scholarship' (thanks Puck Daddy).  No, I do not want to tabulate users on message boards because those numbers can be highly misleading.  So for now I am going to stick to a website based count.  For every assessment there will be an explanation for the grade.  I would also like to toss out a small disclaimer. While the title of the article is the best and worst fans of the NHL it does not mean that all of the fans of any particular NHL team are bad. It just means the support for the team; one way or the other isn't as great as it may be between various teams. The team's will be listed with their total score tabulated next to it.

I have no doubt that some of my rankings will be deemed as an insult to some fanbase somewhere, and others will feel I rate some fanbases far too highly.  I know that all 30 teams in the league have its cadre of die-hards that will support their team through thick and thin and that to question their fandom on individual basis is flawed.  However, without stepping on individual toes I would ask that fans of those teams who feel greatly disrespected take a step back and ask themselves if it fair when you place your team against the 29 others in the league?  So with all that being said I will ask (knowing all too well that this as if you're asking people leaving a burning theatre to keep their voices down as they exit the building) that if you do comment, please keep it clean and tasteful.  But I welcome comments, but I will delete anything that gets vulgar.  So let's begin!

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A subtle but important job skill to possess is interpersonal awareness.  For those of you not aware of what that is, it means the awareness of knowing your surroundings and the people your with.  It also means an ability to 'read between the lines' and find the hidden meanings in what people say.  For example, you're terminated from a job and the reason the company gives for your firing as "personal differences" which really means they did not like you very much.  Sure at times you can read too much into what people say, but usually actions have an underlying message to them.  It can drive you crazy at times as you analyze in your mind over what they were really trying to tell you.  For others its much more simplistic, living either in a state of ignorance or not caring what that person may have been trying to say to them and accepting their words for what they are.  To each their own, but when the Wild hired long-time NHL assistant coach Rick Wilson should we as fans read more into this than just taking it as a simple coaching addition?

Why?  A year ago the Wild brought in Crystal, Minnesota-native Todd Richards to be the team's 2nd bench boss in franchise history.  Many felt that Richards, who never failed to have qualified to make the playoffs in his coaching career which included stints in the AHL (Wilkes-Barre and Milwaukee) and with the San Jose Sharks would bring an up-tempo style where defenseman were taking a greater part of starting up the offensive attack.  Afterall, Richards was star offensive defenseman for the Minnesota Golden Gophers from 1985-89 so why wouldn't people expect him to push for more contributions from the team's blueline?  Well it didn't work out that way last season.  All too often Minnesota's defenseman; especially Brent Burns and Marek Zidlicky were far too reckless in their sojourns to join the attack and that led to odd-man chances and the result was the team gave up around 40 more goals than it did the season before and the Wild (as well as Richards) found themselves out of the playoffs.  So much for the new 'exciting' up-tempo play.  So where is all of this reading between the lines I mentioned earlier?

It has been speculated by Minneapolis Star Tribune's Wild beat writer Michael Russo in a blog post he made on August 6th, 2010 were he stated, "I think former Wild center Darby Hendrickson is the guy Richards really wants.  But Hendrickson makes good money as a Northwest Division rep for the NHLPA and I'm told by multiple sources that he's been offered the Gophers' color job from Fox Sports Net-North.  Plus he works for FSN as a Wild analyst.  So Hendrickson has a lot of options to weigh through.  But I'm sure Hendrickson would be very intrigued by a unique coaching opportunity with his hometown Wild.  So we'll see where this goes with time."  Ok, so Todd Richards perhaps wanted Darby Hendrickson who cares?  Well listen to what Wild General Manager Chuck Fletcher says as the rumors started to spread the team was looking at Rick Wilson to be an assistant coach in another Russo report that was filed the same day.  Chuck Fletcher stated, "As you reported, there’s (three) teams here (with Tampa and Dallas) Just because there’s more parties and more people involved, it just takes longer. If everyone was at their desk, you’d get this done in two days (laughs). But I think it should work out. We’re assuming it will."  Isn't that interesting?  The coach wants Darby Hendrickson, but the GM doesn't seem to care and picks someone else.  See what I mean by reading between the lines?  Could this be a sign of a rift in philosophy between Richards and Fletcher?

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Veterans from conflicts throughout history often describe being in a combat zone as long periods of boredom interrupted by moments of sheer terror.  While an offseason is not nearly as dire as combat, it really is typified by long periods of boredom.  Hockey beat writers have little to discuss, and so they resort to dragging out some stories they simply did not have time for during the season.  I know that is more or less how I've felt this summer as free agency just sort of lagged its way along.  The lack of activity in someways has forced me to find other ways to spend my time.  I described it at the beginning of July as feeling of compulsion to race back to my computer to check tsn.ca to see what players signed with new teams.  Yet just after two or three days into the opening of free agency on July 1st the amount of player movement basically ground to a halt; and even with high profile players like Ilya Kovalchuk the big deal did not really emerge (at least not right away).  What gives?  The salary cap, and having so many teams finding themselves without much flexibility has made for perhaps the most unexciting offseason in recent memory.

After the Wild picked up Matt Cullen and Eric Nystrom on the opening day of free agency there was little more than some speculation that the team was interested in Mike Modano.  The Wild did not have a lot of cap room to work with, so predictably there was no dramatic changeover in the Wild's roster.  Minnesota made deals to re-sign Nate Prosser, James Sheppard, Josh Harding as well as giving a hefty 7-year contract extension to Mikko Koivu, but hardly anything that you could really quantify as being a surprise.  The Wild decided to add another piece to its roster by signing 37-year old veteran center, John Madden to a 1-year deal worth just about $1.25 million when you include incentives.  Madden won a Stanley Cup with the Chicago Blackhawks (the 3rd of his career) this season, after providing 10 goals, 23 points in 79 games.  The Barrie, Ontario native won the Selke Award as the league's best defensive forward in the 2000-01 season.  He is certainly in the twilight of his career but he still moves well, and can be a great asset on the 3rd or 4th line in a shutdown sort of role.  Madden also is a proven leader in the lockeroom, who is the consumate teammate and his veteran presence will likely serve as a replacement for Owen Nolan who still remains an unsigned free agent. Minnesota has liked having a few 'graybeards' in the lineup to provide guidance for the team's younger players and a guy like Madden will be a valuable presence of experience.  Wild General Manager Chuck Fletcher certainly agrees, "John will bring a lot to this team at both ends of the rink, and he will also bring a lot of character to the locker room."

What will this do for the Wild?  According to wild.com's blogger Glen Andreasen it means that it will allow currently injured forward Pierre-Marc Bouchard to play on the wing instead of at center.  Whether Bouchard will be ok by the start of the season is a giant "if" and one that I would not bet any money on.  This latest move also does not compromise the team's cap flexibility as it still leaves the Wild with around $3 million under the salary cap ceiling.  If Madden can provide solid minutes in a shut-down role and chip in offensively as well as he did last season that could make him a very valuable contributor to the team.  For the three centers lowest on the depth chart, Kyle Brodziak, James Sheppard, and the very promising Casey Wellman that will for sure leave one of them on the outside looking in.  I personally am hoping the very disappointing James Sheppard (just 6 points last season) is the odd man out, and Fletcher said as much when he told wild.com, "It's going to be a very competitive training camp this year, Every day will be a battle for spots, and that's how it should be. We now have very strong depth at center."  As an added bonus, Madden is also very solid on faceoffs, winning 53% of his draws.

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"A man will sometimes devote all his life to the development of one part of his body - the wishbone" this quote by famous poet Robert Frost talks about how some people are driven by what they wish to be true.  We all know the type; the glass half full people who are doing their best to always approach life by looking at the "bright side."   Optimistic, wishful are all euphemisms of these people who spend their lives hoping the best happens to them.  They may be working for that great moment to take place while others simply believe they'll "get lucky" someday.  Can you think of anyone who waits for the Powerball or some other lottery game to get a pretty sizeable prize and then plays their "lucky numbers" with the hope of striking it rich?  Do you have lucky numbers of your own?  I know I do; 7, 17, 27, 37 and 77.  See a pattern?  Yet I don't play the lottery at all, no matter how big the jackpot gets.  However, wishful thinking can be dangerous; as anyone who knows or has an addicted gambler in their family can tell you.  Their optimistic search for the 'big score' often leaves their families with huge debts, savings accounts gone and in serious trouble.  Now it may seem as though I'm picking on those who are wishful, optimistic people who really believe thinking positively will bring about positive actions in their lives but the main point I'm making is that all too often those hopes do not come true but that is not always the case.

In a book I read for a graduate class called Man's Search for Meaning by Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl he wrote about his vision to somehow survive one of the worst human tragedies in recent memory made a difference in the outcome.  He said in his book, "Everything can be taken from a man but ...the last of the human freedoms - to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way."  While I am not sure you could call it positive thinking, he chose an attitude of survival and did whatever he could to do so.  It really says alot about dealing with adversity, even something as total and monumental as the holocaust and yet still being able to create a mindset to overcome those odds no matter how bleak his situation must have appeared. His book and his thoughts on his experiences certainly attest to how profound that can be, and he also notes that many of those who did not survive were people who literally felt their life was over and simply waited for the end.  Even people as Frankl so candidly described as being "better people" (more kind, generous, etc) than himself.  So why am I talking about wishful thinking here now, and how does this relate to hockey?   I am writing this to discuss the current injury / recovery situation of Wild forward Pierre-Marc Bouchard.  Yes, I realize that the injury situation of an NHL player is extremely trivial in comparison to what Frankl experienced in the Holocaust and in no way am I saying that their challenges are similar or equal but what I am trying to ask you out there is whether this guy is simply a person with a vision to improve his condition or is he the addicted gambler who is letting the last of his money ride on a single lottery ticket.

In some recent comments he gave to Wild.com's blogger Glen Andreasen, Bouchard says his recovery from a concussion is at about 90%.  (cue the sound of a scratching record or the sound of a car screeching to a halt)  90%?!?!  The Pierre-Marc Bouchard says he feels about 90% recovered from his concussion even though he only began light workouts as late as the 2nd week of July and still has not skated yet even though he expects to be cleared by doctors for 'light skating' soon.  I am not going to go as far to call Bouchard a liar, but if you still haven't been skating since an injury you originally sustained in October of last year can you really say you're 90% back to being healthy?  I've had a concussion or two in my life, and I even played sports with a concussion and even though my ears were ringing a bit I still managed to do everything I had to do as an athlete in the setting of competition.  However, according to Bouchard he's on the cusp of being recovered and he still hasn't skated?  Doesn't that seem a bit overly optimistic to call that 90% recovered?  If that was all that he said you may just assume perhaps he was exaggerating a little and went on with your day, but Bouchard took it a step further.  He also told wild.com that he hopes to be ready for training camp.  (cue the sound of that same car screeching to a halt and then crashing into something)  So for a guy who still hasn't started working out since mid-July and still hasn't skated since early October of 2009 and mind you its almost through the first week of August and he thinks he'll be ready for training camp in mid-September?  Pardon me when I'll say I'll believe it when I see it.

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In my last article where I discussed how to introduce new fans to the game of hockey, and how it is a tangible way to grow the game.  I also discussed how people learn some of their most basic skills in life; like riding a bike, fishing, etc but how are parents supposed to learn how to go about instilling some of these most basic lessons in their children?  Most parents probably find out through trial and error, or simply attempting to repeat and refine what they used for that lesson with a previous child.  Yet not all parents wish to struggle as much, and at times they can find themselves unwilling to leave a certain comfort zone and their approach can detract from the fun involved or make their child lose the desire to want to use that skill altogether.  Parenting magazines, websites dispense all kinds of advice of how to teach your kids.  How push their children to achieve their best, how to not kill the fun of being a kid, etc.  As a school teacher I see parenting in action all of the time; the hands-off style, the "I want to be their friend" style, the strict controlling style and many other hybrid styles in between.  Each one has their benefits and for some kids the style of parenting works very well but for others it can do a child a huge disservice.

I realize that in the grand scheme of things that athletics are really a secondary lesson parents often teach in comparison to being respectful, good manners and other behavioral values.  However, how many of us can name a psycho sports parent?  The parent that may be living their athletic dreams through their child and pushes them mercilessly, who often is quick to criticise coaching and a small reduction in their child's playing time suddenly becomes a giant confrontation between psycho parent and coach?  I think its safe to say you can name at least one parent like that and probably more.  That brings me to two different hockey sources I had a chance to watch and read this winter.  The hockey documentary film Pond Hockey and Bob McKenzie's (yes, the former editor of the Hockey News, and current TSN analyst) book Hockey Dad: True Confessions from a (crazy) Hockey Parent.  Both the film and book have a different level of focus but there are some basic truths that I think is important to share to those of you who are hockey parents out there.  In a very basic level I think there is some good parenting advice embedded in both, and sadly both sources point out how society seems to be losing on what used to be a basic tennant of childhood. As an educator and coach I will offer up some of my own candid observations as well.

First, I'll start with the documentary film Pond Hockey, released in 2008 by Northland Films.  The documentary features interviews with many past and present NHL stars like Wayne Gretzky, Sidney Crosby, Lou Nanne, Neal Broten, Phil Housley, and Jonathan Toews who all talk about how they spent hundreds (if not thousands of hours) playing pond hockey as kids.  They gave numerous examples of how the little tricks and skills they tried in an unstructured environment have played a significant role in their development.  The film then covers the annual U.S. Pond Hockey Championships played on Lake Nokomis near Minneapolis, Minnesota.  This attracts teams from all over the world, as they like to challenge for the coveted golden shovel, and the film covers a few local (Minnesota-based) pond hockey teams competing in the tournament.  The Federal League All Stars led by pond hockey phenom Jeff Sorem (whose team included former college hockey players like Tyler Hirsch, and Matt Henderson) and Sofa King Lazy led by Mark Kovacich.  In Sorem's case his hockey pedigree is pretty impressive as he played four years of Division 1 hockey at Yale, while Kovacich never even advanced to finish out playing high school hockey.  The footage from the tournament is very impressive demonstrating that even though officially this is an amateur event the level of play is quite high.  However all of the players, pro's or non-pro's note how pond hockey really is all about having fun in an unstructured setting.

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Do remember that time you first learned how to throw a baseball, ride a bike or how to cast a line in the water to go fishing?  I would guess that in most of those situations, a parent was involved helping guide you at learning and mastering those skills.  It certainly did not mean it was free of bumps and bruises.  I know when I learned how to ride my bike that tough lesson learned meant I accrued a few scars as well as a few stitches in the process.  Don't get me wrong, it wasn't bad parenting just when my parents let go of the bike I moved into some sand lost control and did a header to the curb.  Painful yes, but I learned to avoid sand and through trial and error I eventually gained enough confidence to bike without the training wheels.  Yet would the lesson been more painful if my mom and dad didn't help me?  Most likely yes, especially after you watch movies like E.T. when I was young where apparently every kid is brazen and skilled enough to outrace police officers in cars and can turn a developing neighborhood into your own BMX supercross event.  Sure as I gained more experience I began to trying some of those moves but on far smaller scale.  Maybe a small jump off a few boards, perhaps a few off-the road trails but never to escape from a slew of police officers.  Pretty tame stuff.

Yet without that help at the beginning who knows how it could've turned out for me.  I may have chosen to avoid bike riding altogether.  Instead it was valuable escape for a kid as I rode all over town to sports practices and just random kid errands.  I never would've had that independence to just jump on my bike and ride off if I had never learned how to ride in the first place.  So, what does this have to do with hockey?  I think its a lot like riding a bike.  Without too much concentration riding a bike seems pretty simple as perhaps does the game of hockey.  Put a puck into a net, how tough is that?  Whichever team puts the most pucks in the net wins the game.  Simple right?  Yet like riding a bike upon closer inspection, you begin to notice the variables that can cause you to question your understanding of the whole affair.  You see the players performing a line change and suddenly you look around nervously and wonder why they chose to switch personnel at that particular time.  That question could be answered rather easily by someone who watches the game regularly but did you ever fear of asking a "simple" question for fear of being teased for your lack of basic knowledge?  Its a common fear, I know I didn't often ask questions in class for fear of looking "stupid" in front of my classmates.  It seems silly to have been worried about that now, but when you're younger its a big deal yet that fear can still be there into adulthood.  People usually tend to avoid things they are unfamiliar with; especially in sports where they don't want to be exposed for being aloof or unaware of basic rules and procedures.

This brings me to the main crux of this article.  I love hockey, and I want to see the game grow.  Like it or not, hockey is a niche sport in this country and I believe its the duty of every fan of the game to do their best to help grow the game.  So what can you do?  I know that not everyone reading this played hockey and can speak from first-hand experience as to how the game works.  Yet even if you're a non-hockey playing fan you can help teach those who know little or nothing about the game.  I am going to try to provide some ideas as how to introduce new fans to the game in a way that allows them to fall in love with the game naturally and avoids making them feel patronized.  So what can you do?

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In the offseason, it can seem like an eternity for something of worthwhile hockey discussion in the months leading to the opening of training camp.  Normally this is the case, but this offseason has provided a little bit more drama as free agency has slowed leading to more drawn out speculation as to which players are moving where.  It still is not settled, and the same can be said for this summer's most high profile unrestricted free agent in Russian-sniper Ilya Kovalchuk.  The discussion has had Kovalchuk been courted by long term offers by the New York Islanders, Los Angeles Kings but most notably the New Jersey Devils.  In fact, that is the 'big' talk of the NHL right now after the Devils' 17-year, $102 million contract offer was denied by the league as they felt it circumvented the collective bargaining agreement.  I could spend a while explaining why the front-loaded contracts (like what Kovalchuk was offered) that have already been given to Detroit's Johan Franzen, Chicago's Marian Hossa, and Vancouver's Roberto Luongo turn the league's salary cap into a joke but that really isn't the premise of this article.  I would like to talk about another Russian-born scoring sensation, Alexander Ovechkin.  The NHL's #2 most marketed player apart from Sidney Crosby, Ovechkin has already been the focus of features on the NHL Network and his picture has graced the cover of NHL-based video games.  He has dazzled fans all across the knees as he has pulled off unbelievable goal after unbelievable goal.  Like many major sports stars, from "A-Rod" to "T.O." to "LeBron" to "Kobe" this star was given his own standard nickname in "Ovie."  Singlehandedly, "Ovie" has resurrected what was one of the most pathetic franchises in the NHL and the last few seasons Verizon Center has been filled with red-jersey clad fans, most of whom sport #8 Ovechkin.  So needless to say he's a pretty big deal and rightfully so.  Yet how big of a deal is he to those that don't follow the NHL very closely?

This is the question that perplexed me, an avid NHL fan who now resides in South Central Wisconsin after growing up in hockey-mad Minnesota.  The NHL has spent millions of dollars marketing Ovechkin, and has committed itself to trying to give him and the Capitals as many nationally-televised games as possible, especially the head-to-head matchups with the Pittsburgh Penguins led by golden boy Sidney Crosby.  There is little doubt that the NHL changed its scheduling practice so that all of the league's teams could cash in on the fan draws that were Ovechkin and Crosby.  So what has been the benefit of all of this effort by the league to promote the two as the latest version of Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux; players with distinctly different styles but both of whom are immensely talented.  Both are players that also seem to be able to galvinize hockey fans where they tend to like one superstar player but not the other.  So has this effort to promote Alexander Ovechkin been worth it?  I decided to put it to a test.  I decided to survey as many people as I could on a very simple multiple choice question.  So here is the question I used in my survey.

Alexander Ovechkin is...

A.)  the President of Russia.

B.)  a Russian hockey player.

C.)  a character from a Russian children's story.

D.)  the first person sent into space.

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