In Case You Missed It: Habs News and Blogger Views for November 9

The HHOF class of 2009 get their rings – Sun Media photo

It’s Hall of Fame Induction night so I’ll be planted in front of my TV, wrapped in a blanket while fighting off a bug.

Congratulations to all five inductees, Brett Hull, Lou Lamoriello, Brian Leetch, Luc Robitaille and Steve Yzerman.

Last night was the NHL Legends Game at the ACC. I was curious as to whether or not Mr. Hull would play. Over the summer, Hull told me he no longer puts on the skates. He was true to his word on Sunday night.

The Inductees received their rings in a ceremony on Monday morning and the official ceremony will air on TSN.

Wayne Gretzky, who played with all four player inductees in some capacity, will be in attendance. Commissioner Gary Bettman???? I’m hearing no.

The Montreal Gazette’s Red Fisher on this year’s class.

Ok on to what little Habs stuff we have: The team had an off-day in preparation for Tuesday’s game against Calgary, and most of us are still talking about Halk’s agent.

In light of the Halak agent fiasco, Chris Boyle offers a very deep statistical  analysis of the Canadiens goaltenders at Habs Eyes on the Prize.

CJAD analyst Murray Wilson was a guest on HockeyCentral, on the FAN590 and Rogers Sportsnet. Unfortunately, I can’t find Mr. Murray’s segment on the Fan’s on demand page.

Wilson talked of the above mentioned issue and the real problems facing the Canadiens, a depleted blue line and no second scoring.

Best Line: “Watching Marc-Andre Bergeron on the ice, it’s always an adventure. It’s like a beer league.”

The H Does Not Stand For Habs: Has an interesting look at the player-agent relationship.

Yves on Habs: Looks the Canadiens newest defensive acquisition, Jay Leach and the rest of the Habs D.

Guillaume Latendresse to Oilers trade rumours?: Apparently a deal with the Edmonton that would send Gui! and SK74 to oil country was mentioned on the Team990 Monday afternoon.

Laraque on IR?: CJAD’s Rick Moffat noted after Saturday’s loss that Georges Laraque was nowhere to be found on the team’s game sheet.

Whether he is on IR or long-term is still being questioned, but Eric Engels was following the situation earlier on Twitter.

How a simple letter, and a bit of luck put Jimmy Devellano on top

I had the opportunity, this past week, to meet Jimmy Devellano, the Detroit Red Wings’ Senior vice-president and alternate governor.

Speaking at the Toronto chapter of SIHR (Society for International Hockey Research) monthly meeting , Devellano recanted his early life growing up in Cabbagetown and Scarborough,

Despite being an admitted lousy hockey player, his passion and quest for a career in the game drove him to write a letter to Lynn Patrick, general manager of the expansion St. Louis Blues in 1966.

Devellano just wanted the opportunity to be a scout and said that he would work for free for the team. Patrick agreed and after a year, he was a full time scout for the Blues.

After a five year tenure, he was let go by the Blues due to personnel issues. As luck would have it, the NHL was expanding again.

He made a trip to the NHL draft that July  and got in contact with the expansion New York Islanders GM Bill Torre.

After a dismal first season in Long Island, Devallano and Torre quickly scouted and drafted some of the greatest players in NHL history; Denis Potvin, Bryan Trottier, Clark Gillies and Mike Bossy.

He told the audience how drafting Mike Bossy nearly didn’t happen.

It was down to Bossy or Dwight Foster, who had led the OHL in Scoring.

Bossy had 77 goals in his last junior season, but couldn’t check.

Devallano said how coach Al Arbour told Bill Torre that it’s hard to find a big-time scorer. They had the playmaker in Trottier and the protector in Gilles. Arbour said he’d teach Bossy how to check.

“He’s the greatest, purest goal scorer that I ever saw in my life”, he said. “And Al Arbour was right, he did teach him how to check.”

A trade later for Butch Goring, were final pieces and in their eighth season, the Islanders were Stanley Cup champions.

Devellano was not around for the Islanders fourth straight Cup.

Little Caesar’s owner Mike Ilitch had bought the Detroit Red Wings in 1982 and his first move, as owner, was to hire Jim Devellano as their GM.

He was excited to be given his dream job with an Original Six team. At the time, the Red Wings were a struggling franchise and had just 2,100 season ticket holders.

“If (Jim) Balsillie were around then, he would have wanted to move the team to Hamilton,” he said.

By the start of his first season in Detroit, the Wings managed to double their season ticket sales but still had dismal attendance numbers.

The Wings battled through seasons of disappointments in the ‘80s. It didn’t phase Devellano or team owner Mike Ilitch’s confidence in him.

“I promised Mike and Marian Ilitch that we’d win the Cup in eight years. It took us fifteen.”

In 1983, Devallano drafted his franchise player, Steve Yzerman , and began building a team around him.

He was one of the first GMs to scout seriously in Europe and the “Iron Curtain”.

Then scout Ken Holland found the likes of Sergei Fedorov, Vladimir Konstantinov, and Niklas Lidstrom. These players quickly put the Wings as a playoff contender.

He felt that the 1989 draft was one of the greatest in the team’s history, if not NHL history and by 1990, Devellano was the team’s senior vice-president.

The players were there, but they lacked the right coach to get them to the pinnacle. Ilitch wanted Mike Keenan, but Devellano didn’t.

The owner put his trust in him again and couldn’t have been more happy with his choice, Scotty Bowman.

Devellano admitted that Bowman and Yzerman had their differences.

Yzerman was a scorer but Bowman wanted him to play a more defensive roll. Bowman even wanted to trade the team’s captain to the Ottawa Senators.

Fortunately for Detroit, the two worked things out and Bowman turned Yzerman into a much better defensive centre. A Frank Selke Trophy in 2000 was proof that it worked.

Finally, in 1997, the Red Wings clinched the first of four Cups in an eleven-year period. Not to mention, they are one of the most successful teams of the last fifteen years.

Devellano then briefly spoke on the tragic limousine accident involving Vladimir Konstantinov.

He told us that both Hall-of-Famer Ted Lindsay and Konstantinov still has his own stall in the Red Wings dressing room and visits it whenever he attends games.

During the Q and A session, Mr. Devellano answered a variety of topics on former players, coaches, the Phoenix Coyotes and New York Islanders situations and even offered advice for some up and coming scouts.

True story: Ilitch and Devellano signed future Hall of Fame defenceman Brad Park away from the Boston Bruins by awarding him two Little Caesar’s franchises, in Boston, as a bonus.

I asked him if there was a player that he really wanted as a scout and the team’s GM went against him . The essential “come back to bite you in the ass” player.

He couldn’t come up with a name off hand in St. Louis but that in New York he had the upmost confidence from Bill Torre.

It was interesting to learn to that the Wings initial choice before Yzerman was hometown boy Pat Lafontaine. The Islanders picked him right ahead of Detroit.

Bob Tindale, the former head of Boston Bruins scouting also in attendance, then added that Boston wanted Keith Brown in the 1979 draft but after Chicago picked him, they had to go with their second option, Ray Bourque.

Devellano concluded that the draft relies on a lot of luck, and that in his career he has been extremely lucky.

More of Mr. Devellano’s story in hockey can be found in his book “The Road to Hockeytown, Jimmy Devellano’s Forty Years in the NHL”.

Hockey Hall of Fame Part Two: Awards and history in every corner!

 

Just a few weeks back, I did a write-up on the tremendous array of Montreal Canadiens exhibits that I discovered during my visit to the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto.

Clearly there is much more to behold.

Before you even have to pay admission, I found myself in the entrance foyer admiring the huge Wall of Pucks, Mask Columns and the New Acquisitions display that offers a sneak peak at the newest additions to the Hall.

A small sampling in the “New Aquisitions” display in the entrance foyer

You then pay your admission and immediately get drawn to the nine foot statues of Fred “Cyclone” Taylor and Ken Dryden that guard the NHL Zone and NHL Legends area.

The Canadiens Centennial Exhibit occupies the centre of the NHL Zone but the perimeter area hosts a variety of exhibits including features on, most notably, Wayne Gretzky, Gordie Howe and Bobby Orr.

The newest inductees are also featured, as well as some of the great moments in hockey are featured.

 The Wayne Gretzky and Bobby Orr exhibits

Current NHL hockey is also featured in the NHL Today area that offers a cabinet area for each of the current NHL divisions, ensuring that even recent events by current players are being chronicled.

The NHL Retro area highlights defunct NHL teams as well as the early leagues pre-NHL and defunct teams and leagues.

 

Defunct teams and leagues (including the WHA)

History buffs will enjoy perusing through the pre-NHL displays

The NHL Milestones area highlights great the greatest moments in NHL history, including Wayne Gretzky’s 802nd career goal.

 The net, puck, stick and gloves from Gretzky’s 802nd goal

The Stanley Cup Dynasty are encapsulates the greatest dynasties in NHL history. I don’t need to tell you which ones drew my attention.

I was even amazed to see that trainers in the NHL are honored for their service by the Professional Hockey Athletic Trainers Society (PHATS) with an area honoring 16 former trainers to date, including the Canadiens’ Eddy Palchuk.

I’m off into the Panasonic Hometown Hockey area, where each of the 30 NHL teams has a cabinet with a brief team history and mention of their minor league affiliates.

You also find a collection of hardware awarded to different leagues (past and present). On display are the Allan Cup, Memorial Cup, Calder Cup and Avco Cup to name a few.

Memorial Cup (top) and Calder Cup displays

Interactive display consoles are about where users could find a player by name, team or town.

In the heart of this area is the most popular of the interactive areas, the NHLPA Be A Player Zone.

Here fans of all ages can see if they can stop a Wayne Gretzky slapshot or get a goal past Ed Belfour on lifesize simulators.

I went four for five on the All-Star level between the pipes.  No flash photos were allowed as to not offset the sensors so you’ll have to take my word.

Off into the corner, the Upper Deck Collectors corner offers a tremendous display of hockey cards and memorabilia.

Cards depiciting the Conn Smythe Trophy Winners (some rookie cards) 

2K Sports even had a zone where fans could try their hand at NHL 2K9.

In back, a huge wall chronicled the history of broadcasting in hockey.

I took a video of it and it is quite impressive. It also includes an interactive Broadcast Museum where you can look back at historical broadcast clips.

Upstairs is the TSN/RDS area. Here fans can recreate a variety of momentous goals in hockey history. The ‘72 Henderson seemed to be the one of choice.

There’s also a TSN Production area, where fans can create their own highlight reel and play the role of TSN director/producer.

Back downstairs to and I made my way back across the Hall and up the stairs to the Great Hall is located.

I snapped a shot of this large shot of the Penguins Cup winning team on the way up the stairs.

This is the area where the Stanley Cup, Hart Trophy, Art Ross, Vezina, etc. are showcased as well as the numerous plaques that honor the members of the Hall.

Off to one side is Lord Stanley’s vault, which houses the original Stanley Cup, retired bands and other artifacts.

  In the center if the Great Hall is the Stanley Cup itself.

The Hart and Conn Smythe Trophies

The NHL Awards had just concluded a few days prior to my visit, so the signs next to the individual awards had yet to be updated.

The Selke and Vezina Trophies

I worked my way over to the huge walls that adorn the names of the players and builders of this great game. Spotting familiar faces as I worked my way around.

One area has blanked spaces for future members. A man and his son were looking through the names. “Who is going there?,”the boy asked. His dad was unsure and I spoke up as I pointed to four blank spaces, “Steve Yzerman, Brain Leetch, Brett Hull and Luc Robitaille.”

Three days later, the Hall of Fame confirmed my predictions.

IN one corner of the Great Hall is a book signed by the members if the Hall of Fame. It’s a thick one too. Encased in glass it would be a thrill to one day get a chance to turn through the pages.

For those who need to sit and rest there feet while touring the Hall, you can relax in the wing-backed chairs of the Members Lounge.

If that doesn’t relax you, the Esso Theatre runs a rotation of archival video and film footage to sit and enjoy or you can visit the Hartland Molson Theatre, which was running The 2008 Cup Final edition of the film The Stanley Cup Odyssey on my visit.

If there’s one thing I cannot stress enough if you visit the Hockey Hall of Fame, is to look everywhere; up, down over your shoulder left and right.

There’s so much to see and you don’t want to miss a thing, like this mural of a vintage hockey game below that was tucked in a corner.

Plan for lots of time too, and enjoy it!

I’ve added the two other photo albums of pics that I took on on these two links:

Album One (Stanley Cup and trophies)

Album Two (Everything Else)

Did I miss anything on here? International Hockey maybe? That my readers is an installment on it’s own that will be up in another week or so.