Bill Wirtz, Chicago Blackhawks Owner, Dies at 77

Some Central Division news out of Chicago today as Blackhawks owner Bill Wirtz has died.

Wirtz's ownership position was contraversial at best. Fans blame him for many of the team's recent on-ice troubles, as well as questionable decisions regarding media coverage, trades and player contracts. According to Wikipedia, Wirtz is at least partially responsible for the Blackhawks trading or losing Dominik Hasek, Ed Belfour, Chris Chelios, Bobby Hull, Jeremy Roenick and Phil Esposito.

Wirtz is also alledged to have prevented Blackhawks games from being televised locally in hopes of attracting fans to the games. That policy and others are better detailed in this 2004 ESPN The Magazine report which labels the Blackhawks as the 'Worst franchise in sports'.

For fifty years the Blackhawks have been owned by the Wirtz family, and it has been a tumultuous time for the franchise. I don't wish to speak ill of the dead, but perhaps this may be an opportunity for the 'Hawks to right the ship.

Image from Chicagobusiness.com

WE SAW AN ENDING!!

Last night featured another amazing game between the Stars and Canucks, once again going into overtime. After being shutout for 5 straight periods dating back to game 2, the Canucks got the equalizer early from Jan Bulis into the third period off a beautiful rebound. Again, I sensed overtime and wondered if Versus would get its head out of its ass and show us the extra frames. They did. And again, the Canucks won it off a Taylor Piatt (who?) one-timer. Thankfully, that game-winner took just 7 minutes, not 77. TAKE THAT Step-by-Step! Urkel was funnier anyway.

Also, interesting aside from my previous posting on the ineptitude of one Versus network Do us all a favor and sell the NHL back to ESPN for a penny, or a loon or a scheckle or a ruble or whatever interesting piece of change that you want. (NOTE: learned from that Albany Times Letter to the Editor, damn they are smart in the Empire State's Capital.)Not only did that Pilates commercial feature Frank from Step-By-Step but also by former NHL'er Pat Verbeek, who interestingly enough won his first Stanley Cup with.... the Dallas Stars. ( I know I guessed Kevin Bacon too) Also, looks like I was off...way off on that Flames prediction, just hope they can make it a series

You're Not Alone

I just wanted to make sure that I wasn't the only one irate at 3 am Thursday morning screaming at Frank from Step by Step as he introduced a new exercise for me to ignore. Versus is trying to establish themselves as an actual network and they pull this crap!? They still haven't responded to my email. Thank God for NHL.com's streamcast of the Canucks flagship so I could pretend I lived in 1925 for the 4th overtime. I was half expecting to be interrupted by a fireside chat or Orson Welles trying to convince me that aliens were invading the earth. Well I'm not buying it. Flames over Wings in 6, calling it now.

Update: The Versus outage was noted on Deadspin as appearing in a Letter to the Editor in the Albany Times-Union... I'm sure amongst other places. I hope Versus noticed.

To Go or not To Go... that is the question.

I'm debating whether or not to attend tonight's FANtastic FANale VI at Nationwide. I'm really torn. The Jackets are hosting the Ducks in what is quite a meaningless affair. Anaheim is securely in the playoffs, and the Jackets are far, far from it. This game could quickly turn ugly, particularly if Teemu Selanne feels like rubbing it in again with a last second (literally) empty netter.

If I stay home, with my NHL Center Ice package, which is surprisingly free, I can watch whatever is going on in the whole league. Particularly, I'd like to tune into the Toronto - Montreal game. The winner goes to the playoffs, and the loser goes home. I'd also get a chance to see the Panthers play Carolina, which would let me view what I believe to be the last remaining teams that I haven't seen this season.

At Nationwide, the stands will be pretty packed and I'll likely have to scalp tickets to get seats. We would be present for yet another John McConnell "I'm sorry" speech, and we'd witness a handful of fans be rewarded with some game worn jerseys. It's be the last time for months that I'd get to see my team take the ice. But barring a very public firing of Doug MacLean, would I really be missing anything? I've poured more of my cash and time into this team this year than any prior, and I really haven't received much return on that investment.

It'll be a to-the-wire decision, no doubt. Check back tomorrow and we'll see what happens. Also coming this week will be the season in review, including our picks for Jackets MVP.

Is Time Warner Giving Me NHL Center Ice for Free?

I got the impression from this Deadspin post that Time Warner Cable would be giving its subscribers a free trial of MLB Extra Innings, the multi-channel pay service that provides access to virtually every major league baseball game. I tuned in this evening to see which out of market games I could pick up, but there was no baseball to be seen. Instead, the channels dedicated to MLB Extra Innings were occupied by hockey. In fact, I could watch any and every NHL game airing tonight.

If you're a central Ohio Time Warner subscriber, check out channels 621-630, plus the subsequent MLB channels, 641-650 for some out of town hockey. It's a great opportunity to see some out of market teams that we Jacket fans seldom get to see all season. I'm flipping between the Jackets-Stars game (on FSN) and the Ottawa-Pittsburgh game, mostly. But you can also see Toronto-Islanders, Edmonton-Minnesota, or even Montreal-Rangers. I haven't had the pleasure of watching most of these teams this season, except for the New York teams. Seems like they're always on Versus. Has anyone else noticed a heavy east coast/New England bias on Versus? Every time I tune in, they're always showing the New York teams, Philadelphia, Boston, or Buffalo. Sure, it's easier to air earlier starting east coast games, and yeah, a huge portion of the viewing audience lives on the east coast, but there's 30 teams in the NHL.

Thanks to the gift of NHL Center Ice, I'll get to see a few more teams before we head into the playoffs. However, I still have not managed to see the Panthers or Lightning, with the latter being a serious playoff contender. Maybe they'll play tomorrow or Saturday and I can catch them on Center Ice.