What a Great Roll for Hockey! Heritage Classic Caps Off a Fab Mid Season Filled With Hockey Magic

If it says it on a pen, it must be true by Lisa Ovens

by Lisa Ovens

If you look back on the last two months, hockey fans everywhere have had more than a few reasons to celebrate this great game at the community level all the way up to the big league.

First the HBO 24/7 four part documentary leading up to the NHL's Winter Classic in Pittsburgh on Jan 1st, 2011. Then we had a re-vamped NHL All Star Weekend in North Carolina at January's end. A little while later and it was Hockey Day in Canada which has become a most beloved marathon of hockey's goodness. An then this weekend it was the still establishing its roots, Hockey Day in America and then finally  we saw the big league return to its outdoor hockey roots in Canada for the Heritage Classic at  Cagary's McMahon Stadium featuring the Calgary Flames and the Montreal Canadiens.

All I can say is GO HOCKEY GO!!

These events set plenty of things in motion from every person assigned to work on the spectacles, to fans at home planning a day of spectating. If anything, we can call this time The Mid Season Hockey Festival...Season? A time where hockey turns up the marketing heat and entire communities of people put on a show.

The Calgary Flames and the NHL scored a touchdown for presenting a fabulous event and McMahon Football Stadium. Too bad the Montreal Canadiens went scoreless in this 4-O chilly, outdoor affair. Maybe coach, Jacques Martin should have sported a hat today (putting a hat on a coach just adds a serious touch to the look that this hat lover approves!).

And Flames fans prove yet again they are the Kings of Seas, as the forty thousand member crowd showed off the RED.  Though I was impressed to catch one dude in a Canucks jersey during one of the many crowd shots...sweet!

Now the Mid Season Hockey Festival Season is over. The hockey world turns towards one thing...the race to the Playoffs and the fight to qualify. Things are going to get Gritty with a capital G. Are you ready for that, everybody?

Random Hockey Bits One Week Before Christmas

by Lisa Ovens

Well, where the heck have I been? Everyone gets super busy at this time of year, including me. So what has happened since my last blog post? Let's see...

Markus Naslund's no. 19 to the Rafters

I really enjoyed the ceremony and was very proud of Nazzy. His sweater deserves to be up there. And he deserves all the tennis vacations he and Lotta can handle! For several days the hockey minds in this town hashed it out; wondering if the Canucks did the right thing, because afterall, Naslund didn't take our team and our city to a promised land.

Its been forty years without a Cup, so Vancouver has to use different criteria when making these decisions. Naslund's emergence as an MVP sniper helped kick off what is the current love affair this city has for its Canucks (sometimes a disfunctional affair, but a love affair nonetheless), and if I owned or managed the Canucks, well, me and my bank account would be very pleased to honor the man that was a big part of my company's success.

Oiler Octane Dance Squad

The launch of Canada's first all female, all mini skirted, all white gogo booted hockey dance team has come and gone. Now we all wonder...will another Canadian NHL team take a step backwards and do the same?

Yes, in my opinion, the Oilers adding an all female dance team to their game presentation is not a step forward.

A few years back, I collaborated with my friend, film maker, Andrew Lavigne. We wrote a game presentation pitch designed for the Vancouver Canucks because we saw the need to freshen up what we considered a tired, old bag of tricks. Unfortunately, our pitch query was lost in the shuffle during the Chris Zimmerman administration. Then both Andrew and I became busy with other projects.

 All I can say is I challenge any team with a cheer squad to let Andrew and I work our magic to prove there are much better ways to entertain 18,000 hockey fans during TV time outs/intermissions without resorting to mini skirts and gogo boots.

Cheerleaders in hockey is a subject I cover in my new book, For the Love of Empty Net Goals.

24 7 HBO: The Winter Classic Washington Capitals vs. Pittsburgh Penguins

Watching this series makes me think one thing: man, do I want to be a hockey fan in the United States or what! What drama...this kind of attention and story telling could be huge for hockey in America this season.

Then I think about our upcoming Heritage Classic event in Canada and I'm not really moved at all: Flames vs Habs...yawn. We need our own version of 24/7. But, knowing Canada, Rick Mercer would do the show and it would be a laugh a minute! Seriously though the presentation  would be Ron MacLean soliloquies peppered with Canadian alternative rock tunes and a dash of Don Cherry.

Canada only has six teams to choose from, and because its looking like the outdoor game event will become an annual to-do, just like the Winter Classic in the States, it's likely we'll foster some unique Heritage Classic rivalries in good time.

What's really surprising to me is by this February, Canada will have two Heritage Classics under its belt, and  the so called "Canada's team", the Toronto Maple Leafs, will not have played in one. How can that be? Don't worry, they'll catch up...

The Leafs have bid on hosting the 2012 game, and apparently the Vancouver Canucks will bid for 2013.

Okay...back to being busy, just not as busy as last week.

Happy Hockey :o)