McKenzie, Cox, and the Difference Between Bloggers and Journalists

Harrison touched on Damien Cox's recent words regarding Tyler Dellow and his blog. These comments received some backlash, as many thought he was being somewhat harsh. Cox has since deleted the tweets and issued a retraction. Still, his comments managed to stir the pot with the tired, old debate about a blogger's role in the hockey writers' community. The debate, as I said just a second ago, is tired and old, but recent events have required that the dead horse be given one more hard kick in the name of holding "real" journalists accountable.

The story about the Colin Campbell e-mails has shown not only bloggers' potential for great journalism, but actual "journalists'" potential for shoddy disappointment.

Bloggers haven't been given a fair shake. We're more than "web/twitter groupies," as Damien Cox called us. While it'd be fair to say individual bloggers reach fewer people than individual sportswriters, bloggers do have a great deal of influence, as Tyler Dellow's blog showed. The reaction to his blog was instantaneous. He essentially broke a story that TSN, CBC and others had to comment on. That's big. No one can realistically say that Greg Wyshynski isn't a big voice in the hockey world. Still, even he doesn't give himself enough credit. He said this a couple hours ago on his live chat:

"I think we're more like entertainment writers. That isn't to say we're not journalists. It's to say the guys who roll up their sleeves and start preaching about hard-nosed reporting are talking about covering a form of entertainment -- not Afghanistan."

He's right on both counts -- he's writing about a form of entertainment, and that doesn't mean he's not a journalist. While his blog is more editorial than news, he still holds himself to a standard of factual consistency. He's been known to fix any mistake he makes. This is what journalists are supposed to do.

Journalists are supposed to be better than bloggers. I can see right now a bunch of comments telling me that isn't necessarily true, and they'd be right, but it's supposed to be true. I can happily say that I think over 100 people read my comments on the Colin Campbell emails. Bob McKenzie and Damien Cox have thousands upon thousands of readers. They should be held to a higher standard.

Damien Cox and the Surprise Sneak Attack on the Blogosphere

We've already talked, at length, about the Colin Campbell e-mail controversy that broke two nights ago on Tyler Dellow's blog, mc79hockey. Qris already discussed how he felt that there was a poor media response to this story, that the wrong questions were being asked. I don't have much more to say on the subject. I do have something to say, however, about the even poorer response of Toronto Star reporter Damien Cox, who last night attacked the blogosphere on his Twitter account for no apparent reason.

I'll admit that I haven't bothered to catch up on Cox's ongoing war with the blogosphere, as it doesn't seem worth the time. While some bloggers are simply fanboys that like to run their mouths, many (Greg Wyshynski, or locally, Mike Halford and Jason Brough) are now valuable voices in the hockey community. Even we here at Pass it to Bulis were one of the major voices in the Atlanta Thrashers/black players controversy, and we're proud of that.

I feel that anybody who can't see the value of a good blogger is blinding himself on purpose. I try not to let people like that get to me. Last night, Damien Cox really got to me. Late in the evening, totally out of the blue, he tweeted:

Yup. Just checking. Mc79 somebody's 15 minutes of fame just ran out. Buh-bye.

Huh? When this popped up on my Twitterfeed, I was baffled. Yes, the Campbell story was beginning to peter out, but why revel in it? Tyler Dellow did excellent work in bringing this to light, and it's a shame it isn't getting a longer look. To me, Campbell's credibility should be zilch, and we should have Dellow to thank for the finishing move.

But it appears the story is going to come and go, hardly denting Campbell's reputation, and Cox seems pleased the blogger didn't have an larger impact. In his tweet, he sounds like a cat with a bird in his mouth. Why so tickled?

I Watched This Game: Canucks at Sabres, November 16, 2010

Canucks 3 - 4 Sabres (OT)

It's hard to be too bummed out about the Canucks' overtime loss to the Sabres last night, especially after they clawed their way back from 3-1 down going into the third period just to send it to overtime. Granted, it would have been nice to skate away with two points, but at least they got one. They've picked up 5 of a possible 8 points on this road trip, and they're in a good position to make this a successful journey east. A win in Pittsburgh tomorrow night would make it 7 of 10 points. But enough about the future; I Watched This Game, like the U.S. Republican Party, is rooted entirely in the past.

• The Canucks were 2-for-5 last night on the powerplay, pushing their percentage to 29.2%. It's still second to Minnesota overall, but they are mopping up the road numbers. The Canucks road powerplay is now operating at a 33% clip. Thirty-three per cent! For you high school dropouts, that means they convert on 1 of every 3 man advantages. Organized religion is jealous of that conversion rate.
  
  
• Henrik and Daniel had moments of pure artistry tonight, and perhaps even this season's first instance of wizardous sedinerie on the above powerplay, but I want to use this moment to point something out: I say moments of pure artistry, because the Sedins haven't really been dominating games yet. That's what they're capable of. They came close tonight, with 6 points and a barrage of shots, but on the whole, Thomas Vanek was more dangerous than they were. Yes, the Sedins have not yet hit their stride, and nobody knows how to say it. The problem is that it's hard to criticize guys who are tied for 4th in NHL scoring behind Ovechkin, Stamkos, and Crosby. But here's the thing: last season, these guys were playing with Alex Burrows, who was at the top of his game. When it wasn't him, it was Mikael Samuelsson, playing better than he ever has. This season, Samuelsson is still struggling to find his legs, and Burrows is still working his way back to game shape. Couple that with the fact that Henrik's passing accuracy isn't where it normally is and you have a recipe for scary success if they actually start clicking. That's how good these guys are.
  
  
• I'm not sure what everyone else's take on Cory Schneider is, but I thought he was only all right tonight. He stopped 35 shots, so you can't fault him too much. But, the Cody McCormick goal was an egregious mistake, as McCormick slid it under him and Schneider, in a panic, knocked it into his own net. I felt like his down-low coverage and rebound control were a bit sloppy tonight, and a lot of the pressure he felt could have been avoided by being a bit more controlled. He was diving around like Miikka Kiprusoff tonight, and that's not the way Schneider plays when he's playing well.
  
  
• Dan Hamhuis is to blame on the overtime goal, and that's a play he doesn't make if he's on top of his game. He certainly wouldn't have made it earlier in the season. Hammy on the goal, from the Vancouver Sun: "I blocked a shot, it was bouncing in front of me, I had a guy on my back and just tried to clear it to the side," Dan Hamhuis said. "I don’t know what happened. It was a tough spot. Puck bouncing off my chest, and I really had no time. I just tried to clear it out of there but the puck ended up going to their guy." That sucks.
  
  
• Hamuis' mistake is symptomatic of the entire defense corps. The Canucks have had trouble on this road trip with small, speedy, skilled teams. We should be able to crush these teams. However, the Canucks' defenders are still so out of sync that we're getting crossed up far too often. The way they chased Tyler Ennis around at times last night looked like a Scooby-Doo door chase. The defense is in disarray. Why? Injuries have really thrown off their rhythm. We've got important guys out; guys playing the wrong side; guys playing too many minutes; guys playing with the wrong defense partner; guys trying to find their legs after injuries derailed a good start to the season; guys in the press box who should be playing and vice versa... it's a veritable madhouse. Let's hope the Canucks can sort this out, because right now, it's a mess.
  
  
• I found myself liking Tanner Glass's game a lot last night, which I guess qualifies me to be the next coach of the Vancouver Canucks. I'm wondering if my opinion of him was coloured by his admission that he plays Scrabble with Aaron Rome on team flights. Swoon. Glass is a college boy, so it's possible that he's not half-bad at America' s favourite crossword-building game. Is he careful not to open up the triple word and the double letter at the same time? Does he know his list of two-letter and three-letter words off by heart? I think I love you, Tanner.
  
  
• I wasn't a huge fan of Vigneault's decision to flip Burrows and Samuelsson on the line formations, but I recognize he's got to get everybody going, and it paid dividends right away. The last time I got immediate dividends was when I passed Go. My favourite thing about the Samuelsson goal? The brief, celebratory jig he does when he scores. He looks like a Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robot at the Gay Pride Parade.
  
  
• In the faceoff circle, All three of Kesler, Sedin, and Malhotra were over 60%, with Kesler winning the day at 72%. Incredibly, he was 8-for-9 on draws in the offensive zone, which makes him 17-of-18 in enemy territory over the last three games. Safe to say Kesler's been our best faceoff man on the road trip.
  
  
• Mario Bliznak was 1-3, by the way. He's typically a good faceoff man, but he's really not getting it done on his NHL tour. Take away the goal in Ottawa, and he hasn't been impressive at all.
  
  
• All this talk of Vancouver and Buffalo being expansion cousins has me wondering if they could get married, if they wanted, or if it would be frowned upon.
  
  
• Has Andrew Alberts played his way into the press box? He had just over 11 minutes of ice time tonight, while Aaron Rome had just over 20. Worse, Alberts was a team-low minus-3. That's never a good sign. In my mind, Alberts brings more to the table than Rome with his hittiness, but it looks as though Rome has played his way into AV's top-six. I know people keep saying you don't win Stanley Cups with Aaron Rome, but I'd assume you don't win Stanley Cups with Kent Huskins, either, and he's got a ring. Not every guy on the roster has to be an All-Star. Some guys, like your sixth defenseman, just have to not [lovemake] up.
  
  
• Now that it's the third week of Movember, Canuck moustaches are starting to show, and it's surprising how many of the guys are actually doing it. Skeeter caught a few of them in his Movember post, but as it turns out, not nearly all of them. I haven't seen this many moustaches since the last time I turned the left and right bathroom mirrors out, so as to create the illusion that there were hundreds of me.
  
  
• Unrelated to hockey, I'm getting really sick of those Rogers commercials with the good-looking guy and the schlub. Rogers is painting all of their non-customers as fat losers and it's insulting. They make it seem like the only way for the schlub to regain all the respect he's lost to the model is to buy a Rogers phone, but I think there's another option: kill the model.

The Wrong Questions: Colin Campbell and the Media's Poor Response

So the story about Colin "Lord Chaos" Campbell's e-mails has been active for about a full day. Originally, I elected to bite my tongue, confident that the right questions would be asked. How wrong I was.

To those who aren't familiar with this story, hockey blogger Tyler Dellow posted an article yesterday (Sunday) that started this whole thing. Dellow had found this court decision on a wrongful firing suit filed by former NHL referee Dean Warren. Warren claimed he was fired for his union work, so the NHL had to show evidence of his failures as a referee. To do so, they submitted into evidence, among other things, several e-mails between Colin Campbell and then-Director of Officiating Stephen Walkom. These e-mails had been redacted, but some had enough details that they could be traced back.

Dellow, after what I'd imagine was a great deal of investigative work, pinned down two specific penalties. The one that got the most attention was a call in which Campbell's son, Gregory Campbell, was given a high-sticking penalty against Marc Savard. Campbell called Marc Savard a "fake artist" and just showed a general dislike for the guy. There were two specific charges that followed -- that Campbell was unfairly biased towards his son, and that he was unfairly biased against Marc Savard, and that this affected his judgment when deciding to suspend Matt Cooke.

What's been said about this? TSN's Bob McKenzie said this:

"There's no question that there's a perception of inappropriate behavior when Colin Campbell sends an email within the office to Director of Officiating at the time Stephen Walkom. As for the specific charge that maybe Marc Savard would not get a fair shake in the Matt Cooke hearing when Matt Cooke delivered the knockout blow to him because Colin Campbell called him a little faker at some point I can only tell you this: I don't have e-mails to prove it, but I would venture a very strong guess that whatever Colin Campbell and the NHL Hockey Operations Department think of the way Matt Cooke plays the game is far worse than whatever Marc Savard would be deemed in terms of being a 'little faker.'"

He then went on to cite the Cooke-Savard hearing as an example of Campbell's integrity. I sort of agree on that point -- Campbell probably wanted to get Matt Cooke and didn't.

Elliotte Friedman of cbcsports.ca had this seemingly-relevant tidbit to contribute:

"The key thing to note here is that the emails in question were exchanged three years ago. On March 29, 2009, Steve Ott nearly decapitated Colin's son, Gregory Campbell. Ott, a repeat offender, was given no suspension."

That would be very interesting if Campbell had anything to do with that hearing. Campbell, of course, recused himself. Safeguards exist to prevent his ruling on hits on his own son.

What about Greg Wyshynski of Puck Daddy?

"I believe those holding up emails that deal with his son and malign the reputation of Marc Savard of the Bostin Bruins as a smoking gun that Campbell's been unfair to him are, ironically, being unfair to Colin Campbell [...] We don't have evidence that his personal feelings on Marc Savard (oddly not addressed in the TSN statement) contributed to any action taken (or not taken) in cases with which Savard's been involved."

Again, this is true, but missing the point, although to his credit, Wyshnyski does spend a lot of time on the real concern. The one that's been all but ignored.

Of course Colin Campbell didn't let his grudges impact his decision not to suspend Matt Cooke. Campbell isn't that kind of idiot. Campbell would never use his power to further his personal grudges. That's a sure-fire way to get caught.

The evidence shows, though, that while Campbell didn't abuse his power, he did abuse his position.

Fantasy Hockey Mondays: Week Five

So it turns out this Steven Stamkos kid is pretty good at hockey. He seems to be scoring a lot of points. My advice: you should try to pick him up in your fantasy pool.

I kid, of course, but it's still astounding the run that Stamkos is on to start the season, as he picked up another 4 goals and 2 assists this week. At 20 years old, he's leading the league in goals, points, powerplay points, and game-winning goals. He's on pace for 72 goals and 135 points. I was incredibly lucky to be picking third overall in all three of my pools and was able to select Stamkos after the consensus first two picks of Ovechkin and Crosby. And to think, I almost decided to draft Nicklas Backstrom instead. That would have been very, very stupid.

That said, Stamkos will need to shoulder even more of the offensive load, as Vincent Lecavalier, who has 9 points in 14 games, will be out for at least a month. Sure, he's not the same player who scored 52 goals in 2006-07, but his absence will still put more pressure on the first line, especially Stamkos and Martin St. Louis. I also have St. Louis in two of my pools, who has been outstanding as well, with 19 points in 17 games. I am confident they will be able to keep rolling, but I'm not sure whether the same could be said for the Tampa Bay Lightning. Still, the standings don't affect my fantasy teams.

Pool One - Office Pool

Team: Aldergrove Awesome

Week Five Result: 7-5-1 Win

With two wins in a row, I can almost start getting cocky about the Awesome. At least, until I remember that they're still below .500 and in 7th out of 12 teams. Ugh. As per usual, Stamkos and St. Louis led the way, with 5 goals and 6 assists between them. Niclas Bergfors was also a solid performer, with a goal and 3 assists. Even my two New Jersey Devils players started producing, with 2 goals and an assist from Jason Arnott and 1 goal, 1 assist, and 17 penalty minutes from David Clarkson.

More importantly, Jonas Hiller picked this week to be fantastic and my opponent's top goaltender, Jaroslav Halak, picked this week to be terrible. That gave me 3 wins in the goaltending statistics alone. Even Chris Mason's brutal performance this week wasn't enough to cost me, as Ilya Bryzgalov was reasonable enough to balance everything out.

Pool Two - Nucks Misconduct

Team: I Miss Kyle Wellwood

Week Five Result: 7-2-1 Win

There's nothing like walloping a beat-up team, right every-team-that-has-played-the-Islanders? My opponent, Twincest, had two players eligible for Injured Reserve, Michael Leighton and Simon Gagne, and an additional two players who were Day-to-Day, Drew Stafford and Craig Rivet, and didn't play this week. In a 20-team league like this one, that many injuries can decimate a team as there are essentially no decent replacements available via free agency.

I won every category except penalty minutes and, oddly enough, wins. Stamkos and Ryan Kesler had 4 goals each, Tobias Enstrom added 4 assists, and both Bergfors and Plekanec had a goal and 3 assists each. Plekanec actually had a better week than that putting up a goal and 6 assists in three games, but two of those games fell on days when I had Kesler and Stamkos in the lineup instead.

It was an odd week for my goalies, however, as I didn't get any wins. Dwayne Roloson was reasonable enough, with a 2.28 GAA and a .919 SV%, but didn't get any goal support. Chris Mason, on the other hand, was awful, posting a 9.31 GAA and a .765 SV%. Only one goaltender had a worse performance last week; fortunately, he played for my opponent. Nikolai Khabibulin had a 10.70 GAA and a .692 SV%, destroying the excellent stats posted by his other goaltender, Jonathan Quick. So, with a cumulative 3.82 GAA and an .875 SV%, I still won those categories.

Pool Three - Friends Pool

Team: Emily Carr Echidnas

Week Five Result: 6-3-1 Win

Yes, a victory in every pool this week. This win lifts the Echidnas out of the basement into a lofty 8th place out of 10 teams. Huzzah!

This match-up was skaters versus goaltenders, as I won every skating category and my opponent, Trentons Finest, won every goaltending category except for shutouts. Again, Stamkos and St. Louis were the top performers, with excellent weeks from Bergfors, Plekanec, and Dustin Byfuglien. I'm still baffled that Byfuglien was still available in free agency two weeks ago. He's currently tied for first in goalscoring for defenseman and is third in points behind Kris Letang and Nicklas Lidstrom. Combine that with 27 penalty minutes and he is fantasy gold.

As for goaltending, it appears that Brent Johnson waited until I acquired him to start being terrible. He and Miikka Kiprusoff were just plain awful last week and cost me the goaltending categories. I'm almost at the point where I feel the need to blow up my goaltending, trade Kiprusoff along with a forward for a goaltender who might actually win a few games. I'm ecstatic that the Flames are terrible this year, but it's killing Kiprusoff's fantasy value.

Big Numbers: 3 Things That Are, Like, Whaaaaat?

Hi there! Do you like stats? Here are a few stat-things to help get you through Monday, a generally unliked day, according to cats and Boomtown Rats. (You'll notice that Monday doesn't have a Facebook fan page. That's because nobody likes it.) Well, it's possible these stat-things will make you say "Whaaaaaat?", and therefore inject some life into your Monday.

Thing 1: Canucks are Good at Faceoffs

The Canucks are the best faceoff team in the NHL at 55.6%. Granted, their lead over the next closest team--San Jose--is only 0.1% (the Sharks have a 55.5% success rate), but these are still impressive numbers. Last year, the Canucks finished 7th in the NHL in faceoffs, and they've done well to improve on that so far.

It's not just Manny Malhotra either. Granted, his 62.3% success rate is a large part of this stat, and he's certainly got more than a few tricks to teach the other drawmen, such as using the glove. I pointed out earlier this season that Malhotra wins a lot of defensive draws by getting low enough to sweep the puck back with his glove if the stick is tied up. Did you notice Kesler winning the opening draw of the Maple Leafs game the same way? Granted, it's a glove pass if you're not in the defensive zone, but let's not quibble over small details. Kesler's success rate has jumped from 55.1% to 57.4%. It may not look like much, but it's definitely something. And if you're starving for a larger statistical jump, take a look at Henrik Sedin, who finished last year at 49.5%: so far this season, he's winning draws at a 51.4% success rate.

Thing 2: Canucks Win When Outshot

Vancouver's record when being outshot by the opposition: 5-0-1. That's correct: they have not lost in regulation when they've been outshot. Only the Washington Capitals have the same success in these circumstances .

How do you account for this? Two things. First, good goaltending. While Canuck nation tears Roberto Luongo apart any time he lets in more than one goal, it's hard to be too critical when he keeps the Canucks in games where they don't have the run of play. Second, the Canucks apparently don't need to pepper the opposition goaltender to score. They're 5th in the NHL, averaging 3.19 goals per game, but only 10th in the NHL in shots per game, at 31.5.

Also interesting: most of their goals are coming in the third period. In fact, only Washington has scored more after forty minutes. And if you love weird negative anomalies, consider this: Vancouver has only scored 10 goals in 2nd periods. That is the lowest total in the NHL.

Thing 3: Canucks Tend to Score When They Have More Guys on the Ice Than the Other Team

The Canucks have the 2nd best power play in the NHL, behind only the Minnesota Wild. On the road, however, it's the best powerplay in the league. Last year, the Canucks powerplay was 11th on the road (6th overall). These improvements bode well for new powerplay coach Newell Brown, who has given some new looks and structures to the Canucks' special teams.

I initially thought it was a crazy idea to put Ryan Kesler on the Canucks' first unit, but he's got 4 power play goals this season, second only to Daniel Sedin's 5. Kesler has busted out of an early-season scoring slump and is making Newell Brown look like he knows more than casual fans. I refuse to believe this is the case.

Missing a Wide-Open Net

The above image is from one of the many 40th anniversary backgrounds the Canucks website is currently using. All I have to say is that with the coming of Movember and Kesler's beautiful moustache, they are missing a golden opportunity. They need to get the Kes-stache in there right away!

I Watched This Game: Canucks at Maple Leafs, November 13, 2010

Canucks 5 - 3 Maple Leafs

So Skeeter and I watched this game, and we can safely say the Canucks were uncharacteristically poor tonight. Thankfully, the Maple Leafs were characteristically poorer, and the Canucks skated away, as Kevin Bieksa would say, with a greasy road win. Greasy like a certain John Travolta musical. Greasy like Kyle Wellwood's favourite meals. Greasy like Luongo's hair.

• Speaking of Luongo's hair, it is attached to Roberto Luongo, who was stellar like a jay tonight. While some fans might disagree with this assessment because he let in 3 goals, consider that he made 29 saves, many of the genus remarkable. His best save of the night: the game. This one was good too.

• The Canucks really need to deal with their sloppy seconds. And sloppy firsts and thirds. They've been playing some sloppy hockey on this road trip, and it needs to stop before it becomes a trend. Twitterverse: don't start a hashtag. We don't want this to trend.

• The Maple Leafs deserved better tonight, but they made the debilitating mistake of jumping out to an early two-goal lead. As everyone knows, the two-goal lead is the worst lead in hockey, and invariably leads to a loss. Also a bad lede: The White Castle on East Fordham Road in the Bronx shimmered as if glazed."

• On Kadri's kovalchoke: bwa ha ha, choke. But seriously, folks, you've gotta feel bad for him. After all, he's property of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

• Post-game, Don Cherry went on his usual rant about defencemen getting their sticks in the way of shots. His example? Mason Raymond's goal. The replay? The defenceman's stick didn't touch the shot. As we said on twitter, Giguere came down with a sudden case of stigmata and Raymond shot it through the hole. It had nothing to do with the defenceman's stick, Grapes. You're wrong. This is not uncommon.

• Tonight's goat: Christian Ehrhoff. He was grotesquely goatesque--as goatlike as Stevie Nicks. The stat line claims that he only had one giveaway, and while we all know numbers don't lie, this number feels very untrue. He was an adventure in the defensive zone, and not a fun one, like Indiana Jones. A terrible one, like Young Indiana Jones.

• Ryan Kesler was given first star of the game honours tonight, and while we think that's maybe one spot too high (Luongo deserved first star), he was definitely the best forward on the ice. That's the second game in a row where we can say that. It's also the second game in a row where he's netted two goals. The important thing about this is that Kesler's best work is suddenly coming on the road, like Jack Kerouac.

• On faceoffs: after what appeared to be a poor first period in the faceoff circle, Henrik Sedin wound up being the Canucks' top drawman, winning 61%. The interesting stat is Ryan Kesler being 5-for-5 in the offensive zone. He was 4-for-4 in Ottawa. This is one of the reasons the second line has been clicking the last two games, and a large part of the reason he has four goals. That said, he was 0-for-5 in the neutral zone, and finished the game 10-for-19 overall.

• While we're still on the topic, we assume one of Mario Bliznak's primary responsibilities as a natural center would be to win draws. He won none. He was 0-for-4 in the circle. Mario, we award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.

• On the theme of diving and poor officiating: we are incredibly biased, but it seemed to us like the Canucks did nothing wrong, and the Maple Leafs did everything wrong. Especially egregious was Phil Kessel getting hit in the midsection by a Henrik Sedin stick and reacting like he'd been stabbed in the face with a lightsaber. Between that, and the time he slid the puck into Manny Malhotra's legs during a line change, hoping for a too many men call (or too "Manny" men, amirite?), Phil Kessel is a massive feminine hygiene product.

• Daniel Sedin's goal tonight was his 11th of the season. He's on pace for 56 goals. If it wasn't for Steven Stamkos and his 1012 goal pace, this might be more impressive. But it's still impressive. I don't need to remind all you Bulies how out for blood Daniel Sedin is. But seriously, he's out for blood like the androgynous Eli of Let the Right One In.

• And finally, watching the Maple Leafs lose makes me happy. Skeeter: "It makes me happy too." So we're both happy.