Our worst fears as hockey fans have come true: the looming NHL lockout has become a real NHL lockout. Faithful hockey nuts Stephen and Jay return for a new season of Cold as Ice with their thoughts on the ordeal. Stephen A part of me wants to imagine that Gary Bettman has at least picked up the fiddle as he sits around watching the NHL burn this time. To his credit, the man has turned the NHL into a multi-billion […]
Posts tagged "Sidney Crosby"
Cold as Ice: Knowing When To Call it Quits
The current saga of Peyton Manning, the surefire Hall of Fame quarterback who’s planning to continue his playing career despite a serious neck injury, certainly resonates with fans of the NHL. Not so much the specific injury, but the situation. When is the right time for an athlete to retire? The NHL has seen several versions of this scenario play out in recent years. Most notably, the case of Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby, the league’s best player, who has been out […]
Cold as Ice: Midseason Review, Part 2
Believe it or not, half of the NHL season is officially behind us. To commemorate the milestone, and look at both things past and to come, Cold as Ice co-editors Stephen and Jay sat down to discuss the season so far. In part two, they talk about the Winter Classic (including HBO’s series 24/7), the growing concussion problems of the NHL, and our predictions for the second half. Stephen: Speaking of hockey’s growing popularity, the Winter Classic has really been […]
Cold as Ice: Of Hits and Heads and Player Safety
Chris Pronger has become this year’s Sidney Crosby, and unfortunately that doesn’t have anything to do with his scoring prowess or performance on the ice. No, Pronger has become this year’s highest profile player to have a season cut incredibly short by post-concussion syndrome, the thorn in the side of the NHL. He’s not alone in his suffering; teammate Claude Giroux is sidelined for head trauma as well, and Crosby has found his way back into the realm of the […]
Cold as Ice: Bye Bye, Boudreau (and Hello Again)
Maybe I am just a bit out of touch with the political climate of the NHL, but Bruce Boudreau’s dismissal from the Washington Capitals took me wholly by surprise. I was aware things were less than rosy at the Verizon Center over the past months, as the hot 7-0 start that led many speculate this would be the year of Ovi quickly spiraled into a 5-10-1 record over the next 17 games. Furthermore, big scorers Ovechkin and Semin simply weren’t […]
Cold as Ice: Shanahan-a-dingdong
NHL rule enforcer Brendan Shanahan is the subject of this week’s Cold As Ice column!
Cold as Ice: Waiting for the Next Great One
Phil Kessel is off to a crazy good start this season and a big reason the Toronto Maple Leafs are holding on in the top of their division. His league leading 10 goals and 20 points puts him on pace for a 70/140 season if he keeps it up, which would make him the highest point getter in a season since Mario Lemieux’s 1995 season. Kessel stands above a crowd that includes superstars like Ovechkin and the Sedin twins (and […]
2011-12 NHL Preview, Part 1: To Hell and Back
Editor’s note: Popblerd is happy to present its initial foray into hockey coverage with this weekly column, authored by Jay Kumar and Stephen Mapes. In the first of a two-part series, Jay looks back at the NHL’s brutal summer and previews the Eastern Conference. The NHL regular season kicked off last night with some marquee matchups, including Boston vs. Philadelphia and Toronto vs. Montreal. Usually, the offseason is a quiet time for the NHL other than the draft and free […]