For who?

Stubhub is always a blast this time of year. Ticket brokers are selling off tickets to important games, and it's always a hoot to see how much tickets are going for. Like seats right behind the penalty box going for $8,888. Against the Devils.

Not against the Penguins or the Flyers, or against a team whom you'd love to heckle, but against the Devils. And honestly, who would spend that much money to harass Bobby Holik.

Get a job, hippie!

Have you ever wanted to work for the NHL? Have you ever wanted to make more than peanuts? Well you FINALLY have that opportunity! Among the many menial jobs out there is one fun one.

Do you have:

• Bachelors degree in sports management, business administration or related field
• At least 10 years experience in a senior level marketing position and must have supervised a staff in excess of 10 employees
• Possess strong sales and marketing experience in a decision-making capacity
  Experience at a major professional team level, with a clear understanding of the components to ticket sales.
• Must have significant advertising and relevant media buying experience
• Must have a clear understanding of web site operations and a creative flair
• Excellent oral and written communication skills
• Strong project management and copy writing skills
• Working knowledge of design, brand development, interactive commerce and creative process
• Must possess the ability to analyze, and prepare a budget.

Well shoot, you can be the new Vice President of Marketing and Community Operations for the NJ Devils! You can probably get a corner office with this one folks for a scenic view of downtown Newark. I'm sure this won't last long, so get those resumes in today!

Awards Show Preview!

As tonight's NHL Awards show draws near (6pm on VS), two things are certain: bad comedians hosting, and horrible rock bands most Americans outside of Buffalo, Minnesota, Michigan and Washington haven't heard of.

One thing is certain though, Alexander Ovechkin has already won two awards, and those shiny trophies will be on display at the Kettler Capital Iceplex on Friday during your lunch break. As far as the other trophies, well, here's my predictions.

Hart Trophy (Most Valuable Player, as voted on by the writers)
Nominees:
Alexander Ovechkin, Washington Capitals
Jaromie Iginla, Calgary Flames
Evgeni Malkin, Pittsburgh Penguins

My prediction: Ovechkin
Who should win: Ovechkin

Really isn't a question. Malkin was great for a few months when the team needed him, but the MVP of that team was Conklin, not Malkin. Iginla doesn't feel like an MVP candidate, more like a token Western Conference guy.

Vezina Trophy (Best goaltender)
Nominees:
Martin Brodeur, New Jersey Devils
Evgeni Nabokov, San Jose Sharks
Henrik Lundqvist, New York Rangers

My prediction: Nabokov
Who should win: Brodeur

Brodeur is the best goalie in league history. Even if he doesn't win the Vezina, he should win a special award for playing so well behind a defense that had Johnny Oduya seeing top pair minutes. Unfortunately, the Vezina is a tricky trophy to predict since it is the only award voted on by the GMs. My gut just tells me that Nabokov finally wins it this year.

Norris Trophy (best defenseman)
Nominees:
Nick Lidstrom, Detroit Red Wings
Zdeno Chara, Boston Bruins
Dion Phaneuf, Calgary Flames

My prediction: Nick Lidstrom
Who should win: Lidstrom

Lidstrom is a living legend on the blue line. He may not have had the most goals, but he had the most points and was an amazing shut down defenseman at the same time. Simply look no further than the skid Detroit hit with him out of the lineup for further proof. He probably should have been a finalist for the Hart Trophy as well.

Calder Memorial Trophy (rookie of the year)
Nominees:
Patrick Kane, Chicago Blackhawks
Johnathan Toews, Chicago Blackhawks
Nicklas Backstrom, Washington Capitals

My prediction: Patrick Kane
Who should win: Patrick Kane

Toews was in the hunt for winning until he missed time with an injury. In a year with no standout, the guy that didn't get points playing on a line with Alexander Ovechkin is going to be win the award.

Lady Bing Award (most gentlemanly/best sportsmanship)
Nominees:
Jason Pominvile, Buffalo Sabres
Pavel Datsuyk, Detroit Red Wings
Martin St. Louis, Tampa Bay Lighting

My prediction: Martin St. Louis
Who should win: Jason Pominville

I don't really understand why St. Louis is up for this. He's just as whiny as any of a number of players in the league. Datsuyk certainly is a class act, but it's easier to show class when you win every game. Things weren't so easy for Jason Pominville this year, missing out on the playoffs after his team made consecutive trips to the Eastern Conference finals. This award is extremely difficult to predict.

Jack Adams Trophy (best Coach)
Nominees:
Mike Babcock, Detroit Red Wings
Bruce Boudreau, Washington Capitals
Guy Carbonneau, Montreal Canadiens

Who will win: Mike Babcock
Who should win: Bruce Boudreau

The word going around is that Mike Babcock is walking away with it. And if it wasn't for that stretch when they went 1-8-2, I'd agree with you. But when you take a team from last place in the league at Thanksgiving, and steer them to the division title, well that to me is how you say "Jack Adams."

Bill Masterton Trophy (perseverance, dedication to hockey)
Nominees:
Chris Chelios, Detroit Red Wings
Jason Blake, Toronto Maple Leafs
Fernando Pisani, Edmonton Oilers

Who should win: Fernando Pisani
Who will win: Jason Blake

Without taking anything away from the gentlemen who are up for the award, there are 3 easy ways to get nominated for this award: get cancer, get a weird disease that no one has heard of, get old. And all three are demonstrated this year.

Lester B. Pearson Award (best player as voted on by the NHLPA),
Nominees:
Alexander Ovechkin, Washington Capitals
Jarome Iginla, Calgary Flames
Evgeni Malkin, Pittsburgh Penguins

Who should win: Ovechkin
Who will win: Ovechkin

See the arguments above for Hart.


Tomorrow we'll talk about how my predictions are. If I guess correctly on every trophy except the Lady Bing, I'll consider that a win.

The Kicking Rule

It seems like not a week goes by these days when there isn't another major controversy involving the officiating. No team sport has as much controversy around their officiating as the NHL, and it's mostly because no sport has as many rules open to interpretation as the NHL does. Even when a rule is written as explicit as possible, it veil of secrecy that surrounds "The War Room" in Toronto where all instant replay decisions are made.

You know a sport is in trouble when the biggest question facing it is what is and is not a goal. Today, we'll review the rule on the kicking motion.

You may have a better eye than me, but it seems that any time the puck goes off a skate and into the back of the net, that the league is going to review it. The best way to determine the actual outcome of this review? Flip a coin. No really. One night a player will kick the puck directly in the net, and the league will allow it, while other nights, the player will have the puck bounce off the back of his legs and into the net and the ref will say it was kicked in, even if the player never saw it.

The league has planned to look at this rule over the summer. The belief is that the rule is going to be modified so a kicking motion will be allowed as long as the blade of the skate doesn't leave the ice. Is rule going to get clearer? Maybe. Anything that takes discretion out of the hands of the officials/NHL war room in Toronto is ok in my eyes, but let's see if the NHL changes the rules at all, what the new rule is, and how it is enforced before we rush to any judgement. Sean Avery showed us how quickly the NHL can act when it knows it looks idiotic. The problem these days is showing the NHL just how foolish it can look.

Your Offseason Primer

Another season, has come and gone, which brings us to the slow part of the year: The offseason.

BHH will be around all summer long to help you deal with the most adverse effects of hockey withdraw. We'll start off discussing the ways I think the league should change the game to improve it, and don't worry, I'm not about to suggest a glowing puck.

As May rolls into june, we'll be looking at what the Caps are looking like next year, and we'll analyze what the Caps should do in the free agent market (Hint: Not much).

We'll spend July looking at the moves other teams made throughout the summer and how teams will change this upcoming year.

And August will be preview time, as I do my patented player-by-player preview in time for training camp to start in September.

The hockey may be done, but there will be plenty of writing all summer long here at BHH!

Elsewhere in the media world . . .

I did an interview for the Washington Newsmagazine DCist.

Check it out.


I'll have something more interesting to say later on tonight. I'm too nervous to come up with anything truly interesting.

Caps on the town.

After putting their golf clubs back in storage for a few weeks, members of the Caps will be out and about in the District tonight as Mike Green, Bruce Boudreau, and Cristobal Huet are set to be at the Nationals game tonigh at the new Corporate Sponsor's Name Here Stadium.

After a few people notice Brucey B warming up throwing a couple of pitches at Caps practice, it's surmised that he will be throwing out the first pitch tonight. Probably because he doesn't want to risk Green or Huet to mess up their shoulders at this time of year.