JerseyCal as a Windows Sidebar Gadget

I have received a lot of requests to convert the widgets here into the Windows Sidebar gadget format. Unfortuately, as a Mac user, I haven't got the ability to do the development and testing that is required to convert them.

However, for those using Vista (and even XP), forum user SupaDawg has posted a step-by-step tutorial on how you can get the Flash version of JerseyCal (found here) working as a Sidebar gadget. This widget allows you to create a list of 31 player's jerseys to correspond with a given day's date. (The image to the right shows what it looks like running.)

It involves a little scripting but is very simple to do and will allow you to run the widget on your desktop. You can find the post and the instructions in the forum here.

Nice work SupaDawg, and thanks for posting that.

Contributor Run Down So Far

To give some credit where credit is due, here are the people who have contributed jerseys to the database. And which one's they have made:

Remy - Who made the Montreal Carabins and Universite Laval.


Clark - Who started the making of the EIHL jerseys with the Belfast Giants (and made multiple years for them), as well as the Nottingham Panthers and the Newcastle Vipers.


Vaytch - Made the Sagueneens jerseys.


Scooter - Who added more to the EIHL category with the Coventry Blaze, Edinburgh Capitals, Sheffield Steelers and also the red/black Sabres jerseys.


Andrew - Added the Manchester Phoenix, also of the EIHL


BR7 - Who is now the official Steelers jersey maker for the site, added close to 200 or so, including the 75th anniversary jerseys and numerous players from the past.


I'll be getting up some proper user contribution pages soon so it will be easier to keep track of your work.

Signature Maker Updated

I'm kind of amazed at the popularity of this thing, 1300+ signatures made in just about a week. This is the first of what will probably a number of updates.

The signature generator now features the ability to choose the number of jerseys to display, between 3 and 7. For people interested in more or less. (More than that and they are too wide, 7 is really the limit on most forums. I'd be hesitant to even go beyond 6. ) As it is, this is still pretty much a small beta project as it still has a lot of potential to be more developed with additional features and options. And, for some reason, it does occasionally hit a snag and not properly render a jersey. I haven't found the source for this, but I think it is server related.

The signature maker page is located here.

Examples for gauging width etc (not actual size):


With errors to report etc. please use the forum post found here.

NHL Trade and Roster Updates Done

As of now, this minute, all of the current NHL rosters including all of the trades should be up to date in the database. In total, including some older deals and call-ups from the minors, it was over 60 new players/jerseys (x 2).

If I happened to have missed anyone please let me know.

Forsberg Back in Colorado

Disregard everything you've read up unti now, we finally have a contract signed. The usual last minute deal, signed this afternoon, will see Foppa spend the remainder of the season with the Avalanche. Full story on TSN here.

This was actually what I was hoping would happen if Forsberg actually did return to the NHL at all...which looked doubtful. I think Colorado was the right choice, it's where he's won two Stanley Cups and spent the bulk of his career.

Start digging out your old jerseys Avs fans.

Around the NHL's team websites, Part 3

The following is a list of some of the more amusing things I've found while exploring each of the NHL club's websites (and reading the mascot biographies.)

Detroit Red Wings
The Red Wings are one of the few teams that actually have "History" as one of their main website features, the section found here features a comprehensive look back at the club's 80+ year history decade for decade, as well as records, stats, player bios, and even the history of the octupus. Plus much more. WingsCast the team's official podcast has player interviews and game highlights. Fans can submit questions to their favorite players, the answers to which are here. Including Zetterberg responding to what music is on his iPod...If that's not enough, Red Wings World offers Wings fans probably more than they could ever need. Sign up is required but it's free. No mascot per se, unless we count the octopi.

Edmonton Oilers
The Oilers all-time roster list is here (no numbers...). Both audio and video blogs featuring pre-game and post-game analysis as well as highlights and interview are found here. Edmonton also has a very cool photo blog. For reasons unknown the Oilers have no history section (that I could find)...and no mascot. Not actually on the site, but affiliated with the team is Oilers Heritage, which is amazing to say the least. Needless to say you can spend 2 hours just looking at the images in their archives (over 10,000 of them). How about Gretzky playing baseball in an Oilers baseball jersey?

Florida Panthers
The Panthers have amassed somewhere in the neighborhood of 50,000 get well wishes for Richard Zednik since the skate incident, the latest of which are here. You can add yours as well. What you hear at a Florida game.. YES, Stanley C. Panther!. What a name...

Los Angeles Kings
Lots of and lots of Kings history found here including a timeline, alumni, all-time roster (with sweater numbers) and much more. KingsVision (video) section here. Plenty of podcasts as well. And, lest I forget, the most serious mascot section in the NHL for the Kings beloved Bailey.

Minnesota Wild
Wild All Access is the team's official blog site and features among other things live game commentary. All time roster sans sweater numbers. Wild PONDcast available here.. You can order the Wild Anthem and see the lyrics and video on this page. I love when teams do this: Wild goal horn, it almost makes up for the lack of a mascot...

Next up Montreal, Nashville, New Jersey, and the Islanders and Rangers.

NHL Premiere in Stockholm Tickets On Sale

Tickets went on sale this morning for the two games that will be played here in Stockholm on the 4th and 5th of October to start the 2008-09 season. Prices are between 400-1100 SEK which really is better than what was expected. Globen is not very big (compared to other venues) and of the 14,000 seats made available for hockey games few can be considered bad.

As of writing this, tickets are still available for both games, with the Saturday game being the more popular of the two. You can book yours at ticnet.se.

The image to the right comes from one of the daily papers in town, that ad was in all of them...

More info on the games can be found on Globen's home page here.

The only annoying thing about all of this is that now that I have tickets I have to wait 9 months for the game....

Foppa Camp Says No NHL This Season

Reports came out last night, and were all over the Swedish papers and news sites this morning, that Peter Forsberg will not be making an NHL comeback this season.

The story broke on TSN, article here, with a statement from Forsberg's agent Don Baizley :

"The prospect of Peter having enough confidence in the foot-skate issue to commit to being able to play in the NHL this season isn't where it needs to be at this moment," Baizley told TSN. "As a result, teams are being told it is unlikely he will be able to commit to return to the NHL this season."

As cryptic as usual, and in usual agent-speak, that quote almost says "No", but not quite. It says unlikely. And here I was actually warming to the idea of him possibly coming back to my hapless Flyers who have now lost 7 games in a row...

Meanwhile the Swedish press has taken this opportunity to once again jump on the chance of Foppa playing for the national team...they never miss an opportunity.

Forum Signature Maker (BETA)

I've wanted to create something like this for a while, and finally got to playing around with PHP's image creation/editing features and now have a functioning "Custom Forum Jersey Signature Generator". The current version is rather limited but will be expanded in the near future to add more options. So, for the moment you can call it Beta.

Basically, this will save people from having to link to multiple images on this site or do any offsite editing to create a simple signature with a few jerseys. You simply fill out the ID numbers from the Jersey Database in the form and hit "Create Signature Image". The output, for the moment, is a 480px by 105px transparent .PNG image composed of 5 database jerseys, like the Ovechkin one above. (As mentioned this will be expanded soon.) Once your image has been created you will also get the forum code to paste into the appropriate place in your user control panel, as well as the direct link to the image.

As a thanks for keeping the words HockeyWidgets.com on the image, I'll host these here on the site till further notice.

The generator is located here: Forum Signature Maker

Any and all feedback is welcome. There is a post in the forum for comments, bugs and suggestions here.

Sundin Trade Possibilites (Swedish TV)

This aired yesterday on Swedish television, SVT talked to fans, Tucker, the press, and Sundin himself about the trade rumors and the possibility of leaving Toronto after 14 years. A good deal of the video is in Swedish (obviously), although there is little new to be added to all of the swirling rumours.

Sundin basically says he wants to stay in Toronto (his hometown as he puts it), he also says it would be a big deal for him to win a Stanley Cup - but that he'd want to do it with the Leafs.

SVT puts up an interesting comparison between Sundin and fellow Swede Niklas Lidstrom's time in the NHL. They've both played about as many years, however Lidstrom has 3 Stanley Cups and has been in the playoffs all of his 15 years. Sundin, as we know, has no Cups and has been in the playoffs only 9 of his 16 seasons in the league...

With 8 days left before the trade deadline anything can happen, with the biggest events usually coming in the final days/hours. For more on the Sundin business, Bill Clement has a blog post on HockeyBuzz.com from Friday talking about the situation and saying Anaheim...there are roughly 200 responses so far...

Friday Night Bandy at Zinkensdamm

On Friday night myself and about 3,000 others braved the sub-freezing temperatures to watch Hammarby (a team here in Stockholm) play Bollnäs in bandy. The game was played at the one bandy rink that is actually in the city of Stockholm and if anything defined being there it was the word cold.

The game itself was a good one, with the team's alternating leads and Hammarby finally winning 5-4 with the last goal coming with only 90 seconds left. I got some footage from the game including a couple of goals and the three Zambonis that are used to clean the ice at half time. The highlight of which is probably a guy behind me yelling "Icing" when Hammarby clears the ball down the ice.

There are two games left in the season before the playoffs start with the finals traditionally being held March 15th in Uppsala.

The Rod Phillips Hemsky-Regehr Call

About a month ago the Oilers played the Flames in the season's fourth Battle of Alberta. The game was eventually won 2-1 by Edmonton but the true highlight of the game was legendary radio play-by-play announcer Rod Phillips' call of Ales Hemsky's goal.

Phillips, known for his calls, truly created a classic here...and I finally tracked down the audio of it after hearing it about 10 times on Puck Podcast (the guys there can't get enough understandably and actually asked the Oilers color commentator Morley Scott about it in the February 9th addition of their podcast.)

So, for those of you who haven't heard the Robyn Regehr ridicule involving Ales Hemsky "eating him for dinner" have a listen:

The Hemsky-Regehr Call, from the Oilers official podcasts.

That is just begging to be re-mixed with some music and made into a dance floor filler.

NHL Hockey Archive Footage

When people are producing historical documentaries about the NHL they go to a place called the NHL Hockey Archive. It contains the largest collection of footage from the league, and is the official video archives. Footage is delivered physically in Betacam SP format and restrictions apply to their use. They have literally thousands of hours available to film makers. And yes, there is a cost for gaining access to the archives based on which footage you request.

For those of us who aren't planning on making a documentary and just interested in seeing some footage from the archives you can view sample videos from 6 decades here. Including Maurice Richard receiving the Cup in 1956, the Leafs captain Armstrong hoisting the cup in 1967, Bobby Orr in slow-mo beating the Blues, my personal favorite - the Flyers first Stanley Cup victory and Guy Lafleur's last game in Montreal, as well as about a dozen more clips. The quality is better than YouTube and is in WMV format, so you'll need Flip4Mac to see it on a Mac.

They also have a 90-second demo reel that showcases some of the classic moments from the last 70 years and introduces the archives. Worth watching despite the painful voice over...

Around the NHL's team websites, Part 2

The following is a list of some of the more amusing things I've found while exploring each of the NHL club's websites (and reading the mascot biographies.)

Carolina Hurricanes
The Hurricanes have not forgotten their roots in Hartford and feature an in-depth timeline of the franchise's history here, as well as an all-time roster that includes the Whalers. Unfortunately it doesn't indicate who played where (or give you sweater numbers). Kaiton's Corner is now available as a podcast and features the Hurricanes play-by-play announcer Chuck Kaiton answering fan's questions as well as interviews with the team. And yes, lots of Stormy the pig information is available...

Chicago Blackhawks
Jonathan Toews talking about his first NHL goal....while eating dinner at a French restaurant. You know you want to see that. More info than you could ever need regarding the history of the team can be found hidden here, including team photos going back to the late 60's. In addition to the HawksCast audio the Blackhawks have some "Audio Classics" files which can be downloaded including goal horns and the song "Here Come the Hawks". And, lest we forget Tommy Hawk, the Blackhawks seldom seen Hawk mascot.

Colorado Avalanche
Maybe I missed something entirely, but the Avalanche seem to be lacking in features on their site. No history, no blogs, no podcasts, not even a mascot. Not even a mention of the Stanley Cup teams. Sorry Avalanche fans, but besides the Forum you're not getting a lot from your team website.

Columbus Blue Jackets
Lots of podcast audio available here, as well as game highlights. You can also download the Blue Jackets goal horn - in WAV format. It's Stinger!

Dallas Stars
The Stars have a great history section that includes not just the team but hockey in general in Dallas. They also have an all-time roster with sweater numbers! There is an iMix section on the site which features iTunes playlists selected by players like Modano and Ribeiro, as well as the Ice Girls and even Dave Tippet. Ribeiro is quite the rap fan...and go Modano for admitting to being a Cure fan. Alas...no mascot.s

Next up Detroit, Edmonton, Florida, Los Angeles and Minnesota

The King of Game Worn Jersey Sites

So, it's Valentine's Day and if you have about two or three thousand dollars handy you can pick up your significant other the gift of a lifetime. Cause, god knows, nothing says "you're the one I love" more than a game worn hockey jersey. (For some people anyways. My wife not being one of them.) But, you say, where would I find a great selection of game worn jerseys that span decades of NHL action? Well, you're in luck, I know exactly where you can empty your bank account on such an item...

MeiGray.com is absolutely amazing. It is the site of the MeiGray Group and "your source for game-worn jerseys". They are also the official partners of nhlgameworn.com, the NHL's official game-worn store which has hundreds of jerseys from recent seasons.

On the site you will find not just hockey jerseys but also baseball, football and basketball jerseys. Hockey is, however, the focus. And not just the NHL, they also feature a large number of college, minor league, national and international jerseys. Most specifically the ECHL and the AHL. If that isn't enough they've got WHA jerseys from 7 different teams (including the Nordiques, Jets and Whalers) and All-Star jerseys. There is also a section with vintage NHL jerseys going back decades for some teams. (Be prepared to unload some serious cash on these. A Ted Kennedy 1950 All-Star jersey will run you a hefty $22,500.)

Besides jerseys they also sell other odds and ends of memorabilia such as sticks and skates, or how about Bobby Hull's WHA Winnipeg Jets equipment bag? No photo unfortunately but it's only $2,500 and would make an excellent addition to anybody's equipment bag collection.

Alas, for some of us the price tags are a little high, but it's a treat just to see images of some of these pieces of history. However, if my wife is reading this (and has received a bank error in her favor) I would like the 1993 Quebec Nordiques Mike Ricci jersey with Stanley Cup 100th Anniversary patch and the Assistant Captain "A". Color blue.

The image featured is a Andre Gaudette WHA Nordiques jersey from the 1973-74 season. Price tag: $2,250

Around the NHL's team websites, Part 1

The following is a list of some of the more amusing things I've found while exploring each of the NHL club's websites (and reading the mascot biographies.)

Anaheim Ducks
The Ducks, despite their relatively short existence in the NHL, have a rather comprehensive history section. Including a description of past logos and jerseys found here. They also have an all-time player roster - alas without sweater numbers. Adam Brady writes the official Ducks blog, the official Ducks podcast is here. The customary mascot page featuring the likes, hobbys and skills of Wild Wing explains how that name happened. And, if you need them, the lyrics to "Bro Hymn" by Pennywise (the Ducks goal song) are located here. I had no idea they had an official "goal song" let alone one by Pennywise...

Atlanta Thrashers
The comprehensive Blueland blog, they are quite the tightly knit community down there in Atlanta, can be found here. The Thrashers have a franchise history section which includes rosters, stats and a team timeline. But the most interesting feature on the page has to be the list of NHL alumni that currently reside in the state of Georgia (includes biographies for each player.) I always wondered what happened to Uwe Krupp...oh and needed to know much much more about Thrash.

Boston Bruins
You can subsribe to BruinsCast - the aptly named Bruins podcast - as well as audio game recaps here. Team history, including PDF's, video and 80+ years of team rosters can be found here. And, perhaps it has escaped your attention but the Bruins have a mascot named Blades. No doubt you want to read the rather prosy story as to how this came about and "How Blades Became a Bruin". If that isn't enough, John Bishop covers the team in his Bear Essentials column daily.

Buffalo Sabres
The Sabres have a section that lists all the music played at their home games. Each game has a playlist with links to iTunes with player selections highlighted. (Each game features a different player.) Most recently it was Andrew Peters, but if you want to know what Ryan Miller listens to you can now find out...Bon Jovi? They also have a lot of members only stuff, it's free to register, and well worth it if you want to be able to access things like Jason Pominville's blog and the team's podcasts - of which there are many. Hmm...the Sabres have a mascot called Sabretooth who is not a buffalo or a slug...nor a combination of both.

Calgary Flames
Yes, the Flames actually have an all-time roster by numbers, every team should have this. FlamesCast, the team's podcast, features player interviews and a Coaches Corner. No doubt you were unaware of Harvey, unless you live in Alberta, the NHL's very first mascot. A picture can be found on the "Songs of the 'Dome" page.

Next up...Carolina, Chicago, Colorado, Columbus and Dallas...

NHL Stockholm Tickets Go On Sale Feb. 20th

UPDATE FEB. 19th
Info has finally been posted on Globen's website. Prices start at 395kr (cheaper than expected) which is a little less than: $65-€45-£35. Info in Swedish here. Start times either 6PM or 8:30PM (to be determined).

The official date and time of release for tickets to the two NHL games here in Stockholm is February 20th at 9AM Swedish time. The prices of the games, scheduled for October 4th and 5th, has yet to be announced on Globen's website. In fact I contacted them about this earlier today and the answer I received is that they have not yet been determined but that when they have they will be posted here. Speculation is around 700SEK (roughly $100) at present.

The official site to purchase tickets for the matches is ticnet.se. Tickets will also be available for physical purchase at Globen itself on the 20th. (I'll probably opt for that option, and get over there at about 6 AM next Wednesday to line up.)

Seating capacity in Globen for a hockey game is roughly 14,000 people and both games are expected to sell out quickly as interest is high in not only Stockholm and Sweden but also northern Europe and the Baltics.

The Forsberg Saga

The Flippity Flop of Foppa
So, does anyone want to put money on where Peter "Foppa" Forsberg ends up in the coming weeks/days? Not me. I wouldn't even put money on whether or not he ends up in North America. I'm not even sure if I'd bet on whether or not he ended up on ice or not.

But, that doesn't stop the speculation surrounding the 34-year old's future in the NHL. Here in Sweden I think it has been about 6 months since an article about Forsberg didn't appear in the paper. One can seemingly not get enough when it comes to foot injuries, special skates, practicing with MODO, the possibility of playing with the national team, the fact that he is not going to play with the national team, and now the bubbling pot of god-knows-what that you'd call the 13 days remaining till the trade deadline.

What the Swedish Press is Saying
Today, in Aftonbladet, there was an article that basically did nothing more than inform you that; "Whoever gets Forsberg will become a better team over night." That quote does not come from the Swedish press, that comes from Ian Laperriere of the Colorado Avalanche. Yes, today's speculation was about a return to Colorado. But, overall, one team keeps coming to the top of the "Guess Who" list: Philadelphia.

Allow me to quote from a panel of two Swedish hockey journalists discussing this topic last week on Aftonbladet.se:

Which uniform will we see Forsberg in?
Tomas Ros - "Philadelphia with a 1-2 year contract. He'll be applauded by Flyers fans when he comes back."
Per Bjurman - "The most common assumption is the Flyers, but I keep hoping for the Rangers."

And, if he goes to the Flyers - does he get the number 21?
Tomas Ros - "Yeah, I feel that Peter Forsberg with the number 21 would be a big seller in Philadelphia. Jason Smith will have to switch, despite being the captain. Who wants a 21 Smith jersey?
Per Bjurman - "Depends on how much Smith cares. 21 is available for the Rangers by the way."

What Paul Holmgren Has To Say
So, they're already discussing jersey numbers. In Philadelphia things are a little different. The Daily News featured a brief article by Ed Moran on Feb. 11th which included some quotes from Flyers GM Paul Holmgren. Holmgren had apparently heard from Forsberg's agent who had told him that Peter still hadn't made a decision as to whether or not he's even coming back to the league. He needs another week to decide. Which means no answer till after this coming weekend at the earliest. Holmgren later echoes my sentiments exactly: "You know we seem to be spending a lot of time [talking about Forsberg] and until we actually know he's coming back to the NHL, it's sort of a moot point....I'm still not convinced he's coming back to the NHL. People seem to think he's coming back to the Flyers. I'm certainly not convinced of that. People seem to think they know something we don't know." Thank you Paul, that is exactly the answer all of us want to hear, and is about the only concrete thing anyone has said regarding all of this.

Regarding the Flyers and Foppa
Do the Flyers even need Forsberg? Last year they certainly did, but he only played 40 games with them before being dealt on to a much better Predators team. The previous season he played 60 games with the Flyers. His two season totals on the team were some of the lowest in his career (missed games taken into account): 30 goals, 85 assists. I'm not saying Forsberg is a bad player, I'm saying he is a major injury risk and what he wants right now is not inline with what the Flyers need. Which brings me to:

The Foppa Conundrum
Peter Forsberg is only going to play in the NHL again if he gets to play for a team that is going to contend for a Stanley Cup - this year. He will not end up in some place like Los Angeles. In fact the better the odds of winning a Cup this year, the better the odds that Forsberg will end up there. Detroit? Ottawa?

Forsberg is expensive. We are talking at least $5 million for this year and next year. At least. Which means hitting the salary cap big time, and putting your money where your mouth is as a club owner. I'd seriously be surprised if the Flyers would do this considering their off season following last year's dismal record. Dealing Forsberg to Nashville helped them, re-signing him now (when things are going good) would be bizarre to say the least. Me thinks there are better things to do with that kind of cash - like pick up some more defense.

Philadelphia has franchise players now, they've moved forward. Correct me if I'm wrong here, but I don't think fans are going to applaud an injury prone Forsberg's return to a team he's already been on twice. That would be like welcoming back Lindros. If he did come back to the Flyers, and that is a big IF, the expectations on him to perform would be gigantic. (Donovan McNabb proportions for those familiar with the minds of Philadelphia sports fans.) If I was Peter Forsberg I wouldn't want to deal with that. Personally, I'd want to go back back to Colorado...

The Cold Hard Foppa Truth
So, to put it bluntly. Cash + Cup = Forsberg on your team. But, Forsberg gets the last say in the matter. And, to go back to the beginning of this article, you better truly believe that "Forsberg is going to make your team better over night." I'm not sure anyone in the Flyers organization can truly believe that as much today as they did in 2005. Colorado yes, the Rangers probably, Detroit hmmm..., Ottawa they just pulled off a huge trade, Nashville most likely, Vancouver definitely, MODO...certainly....but the Flyers I don't think so. Then again they've lost 3 straight and Gagne's out again....naah...I still don't believe it.

Foppa Figures
During the course of 12 seasons in the NHL Forsberg has played in nearly 700 games and scored almost 250 goals. His true skill, and what has made him a star player, lies in the fact that he has racked up 623 assists in those near 700 games. Which, when all is said and done, is still more than a point a game average. If he's healthy, like he was early in his career, we're talking a 30 year a goal scorer plus 80 assists with the ability to up the level of his line mates. That would make any team a better team over night.

He's played in 7 All-Star games and won two Stanley Cups with Colorado, In addition he has won the Calder, Ross and Hart trophies. Oh, and yes, two Olympic gold medals.

We shall see, in 13 days everyone will know everything and this will just be added to the huge pile of outdated speculation and Foppa related jibberish....that is, unless he goes to Philadelphia. In which case I'll look very foolish.

The Who's Missing Contest - Round 1

I recently received a request for Adam Graves to be added to the database and realized that some how in the course of making about 5,000 NHL jerseys for the jersey database I had completely missed him. Which leads me to realize that there are no doubt plenty of other players who deserve a place that I have also overlooked till now. And hence, this contest...

Your job is to find the most famous/greatest/deserving NHL player that is not yet in any way represented in the database. To enter you need only add your entries to the official contest thread located in the forum on the following page:
Who's Missing Contest Thread

One winner will be chosen from all of the entries that come in (feel free to enter as often as you like) and you are welcome to motivate your choices. The contest will run till March 1st. During the contest I'll try to add as many of the suggestions as I can.

Hopefully this will fill in some of the larger blanks when it comes to the elite of the NHL from the last 90 years - and I know there are some big names missing.

The winner will receive a personal jersey added to the database, a custom addition to their forum profile, their suggestions added to the database as well as a complete roster from the team and year of their choice.

Best of luck, now go out there and track down the missing legends...

Zednik Recovering After Surgery

If anyone missed it over the weekend, Richard Zednik of the Panthers took a skate to the neck in their game against Buffalo. The skate in question actually came from teammate Olli Jokinen who was upended in the corner and managed to catch Zednik with his skate blade on the way to the ice.

Zednik was able to skate to the bench after the initial incident where they were able to stop the bleeding. Although the game was stopped for 15 minutes while crews "scraped the blood off the ice". No doubt a pretty scary moment for everyone involved. According to the Panthers website Zednik underwent surgery yesterday to close the laceration and is resting following the operation in Buffalo.

Although these things happen surprisingly seldom they do occasionally occur. There have been a couple such injuries over the last couple of years in the minor leagues and of course the Malarchuk incident in the NHL about 20 years ago. Thankfully things didn't turn out worse for Zednik who has been on a tear of late scoring 6 goals in his last 4 games including notching his second career hat trick. The guys on Puck Podcast even named him as their player of the week on Saturday before the Sabres game. Hopefully he'll make a full recovery and be back in the not too distant future.

Richard Zednik, born in Slovakia, is a 10 year veteran of the league who has spent time with the Capitals, Canadiens, and Islanders before coming to the Panthers this season.

Hockey Weekend Across America

This coming weekend, February 15th-17th, will mark the first ever "Hockey Weekend Across America". The event, which is sponsored by USA Hockey, will include events around the country as well as daily themes over the weekend. Similar to "Hockey Day in Canada", which took place this past weekend in Winkler, Manitoba, HWAA has the following objectives:
1. To celebrate our game and all involved in the sport throughout the nation using all means possible.
2. Provide opportunities for those who haven't played hockey to try it, resulting ultimately in more people playing our game at all levels.

February 15th is "Wear Your Jersey to School Day", the 16th is "Bring a Friend to the Rink Day", and the 17th is "Celebrate Local Hockey Heroes Day". In addition the website for HWAA and USA Hockey will be giving prizes through various contests.

A complete list of nationwide events can be found here.

A video spot for the event can be found here

In addition this Saturday is "Hockey Day in Michigan" with events up and down the mitten and the UP.

So, remember, wear your jersey to school on Friday...and try to get to one of your local events if possible. And for those of us out of school, I guess we should wear our jerseys to work on Friday...

JerseyDate available for Yahoo! Widgets

JerseyDate is a simple widget that displays the date using random jerseys from the database. You can manually change the jersey (the default setting) or you can choose how often you would like it to automatically change (between 5 minutes to every hour). There are a couple of options included here that aren't in the Dashboard version, namely the ability to change the color and opacity of the information panel that appears on mouse over. (You can disable this entirely as well.)

You can choose to show only a specific sport or to use all of the jerseys from the database, you can also choose to show only light or only dark colored jerseys. Please note that some combinations will not work currently, ie showing only light colored basketball jerseys as there are very few of these in the database at the moment.

The current jersey being shown will also appear in the dock, so technically you don't even need to have the jersey itself on your desktop for it to work.

You can download JerseyDate via the main widget page located here

Ron Hextall night in Philadelphia

One of the most beloved Flyers was given a night all his own when he was inducted into the Flyers hall of fame on Wednesday. He optimized the style of the team perhaps more than any other goalie that ever donned the uniform and backed it up with both his play and attitude. He became the 19th member of the hall, that features the likes of Bernie Parent, Bobby Clarke, Reggie Leach, Tim Kerr and most recently Dave Poulin who as inducted in 2004.

Hextall had two stints with Philadelphia, he was originally sent to Quebec as part of the Lindros deal but ended up back on the Flyers in 1994 via the Islanders. He played 11 total years with the team posting a 2.91 GAA having played in almost 500 regular season games. His 1986-87 season alone was one long glorifying accomplishment - All Rookie Team, First All Star Team, Vezina Trophy and the Conn Smythe. The encore came the following season when he became the first goalie to score a goal (legitimately).

The full story with links to videos and interviews can be found at the Flyers official website here.

The following is the tribute video that was created by the team:
(May not be Safari friendly, they recommend Firefox.)

NHL Connect...hockey fans unite.

Last year the NHL introduced NHL Connect, although it was invite only and was in a Beta stage for the latter part of the season and through the summer (if I remember correctly). This year however the service, which one could call a "hockey dedicated social networking community site", has been unleashed upon the masses and is close to reaching 20,000 members...including the Stanley Cup.

The premise of NHL Connect is pretty simple, it's a place for hockey fans to connect with other hockey fans and share pictures, videos, as well as create groups and blogs. Consider it Facebook without all the clutter and distractions....and as one big group under the name of "Fans of Hockey and the NHL." But, what on earth goes on there? Good question...

I had passively looked into signing up since the Beta stages, I'm not sure exactly what first got me interested, but it was a hockey community set up by NHL.com so it was obviously intriguing. So, the other day I finally decided to sign up and find out just what the whole thing was about. (You can't really find out till you become a member.)

So, what is it? Hard to say really. I'm not even sure if it knows what it is, or what it wants to be. You sign up, fill out some basic information about yourself, ie. favorite books, favorite movies, favorite sports teams, hockey players, NHL team, how long you've been a hockey fan (are there people who can actually pinpoint this?) etc etc. Then you go about recruiting friends, which is surprisingly simple since unlike Facebook there is nothing in the back of your mind telling you that you can't just be friends with anyone who asks you. Because, this isn't YOU, this is the hockey you...or something similar to that effect. Within an hour I had 4 people asking me to accept them as my friend, which was amusing since I hadn't filled out any of the profile information at this point. One can assume that being listed on the "newest members" list will get you at least 4 friends.

So, what's there? Well, besides a basic area for people to write messages to you/about you (or rate you), they can also send private messages, you can post pictures (decidedly hockey related ones obviously), post videos (decidedly hockey related ones obviously), start a blog (haven't done this yet, I have enough trouble with this one), you can join groups (for specific teams, Lovers of Don Cherry, Bring Back the Whalers and even the Brian Boucher Fan Club -4 members) or start your own (People Who Make Little Digital Sweaters). All in the spirit of hockey. It is a strange underground lair of hockeyness...and it's kind of bizarre.

What have I learned? People are friendly. Hockey people tend to be friendly, and these people seem to genuinely reflect that real world quality even on the net - which is not a common thing. Granted there will always be some types out there who enjoy ruining people's good time by being snidely and inconsiderate, but for the most part NHL Connect seems free from most of this. (Now imagine if something like YouTube was...) I've also learned that content is what you make it on this site. Unlike Facebook with it's near disease like craving of you to take this test and install this and do that and send this crap to so and so, NHL Connect is content to just let it's members add their opinions, videos and pictures. That's it. And frankly, that's enough. If anyone started sending me "Which Boston Bruins Player Are You?" quizzes I'd already be off that site. Likewise it they'd try to use the word "net" in social networking in some fun way...

Face it, Facebook is about to go supernova and it will soon collapse under it's own weight and implode back in upon itself. Which means the masses will go scurrying about looking for a new place to avoid work and it's a good bet that any self admitting hockey fan will find their way to NHL Connect at some point. You've got nothing to lose, not even your integrity and personal privacy!

Seriously, if you're a hockey fan it's at least worth a look see...you're guaranteed at least 4 friends...and you can find out what the Stanley Cup's favorite movies are.

You can sign up at: fans.nhl.com.

If you're already a member the HockeyWidgets (read:my) profile can be found at fans.nhl.com/HockeyWidgets. Ignore my taste in music, just hit the Add to Friends button.

Russia win bandy World Championships

Russia defeated Sweden in the finals to take home their third straight gold medal, their 5th overall (19th if you include the Soviet teams). The game was all Russia with Sweden unable to really produce any offense. The only really positive thing one could say about the Swedish team, who won the round robin part of the tournament, was that their goalie at least gave them a chance by keeping out as many shots as he did. However, out of the 25+ he faced 6 found the back of the net. Sweden managed only 6 shots and only got one in.

20,000, mostly Russian, fans were in attendance in Moscow to see the game - I on the other hand watched the game in the comfort of my living room (see image). Bandy truly is one of those sports that is nearly impossible to follow live, televised games and a lot of zoom and slow motion is pretty much the only way you'll be able to "see" the whole game.

US wins Group B at Bandy World Championships

The US bandy team completely and utterly dominated Group B in Moscow to win the 2008 World Championships in their bracket. They won all 6 of their games with a total of 65 goals for and only 3 against. That included 3 shutouts, a 17-1 win over Mongolia and 7-1 win over Canada. (The US has never lost to Canada believe it or not.)

Earlier this morning the US team met Belarus in a game that would decide whether or not the two teams would switch groups. A win for the US would put them into Group A amongst the likes of Sweden, Finland and Russia. Unfortunately, despite a great showing in the tournament, this would not be the year. The game, which ended a couple of hours ago, ended 6-4 in favor of Belarus. Congratulations go out to them nonetheless, as well as to Canada who came in second by beating Latvia yesterday on penalty shots.

In Group A, Russia will play Sweden in the finals this afternoon, Finland picked up the bronze beating Kazakhstan earlier today.

The World Championships are held every year, next year's event will be hosted by Sweden.

Pond Hockey Championships

Probably the greatest athletic endeavour on the planet. Pond hockey has taken on a whole new meaning in the last couple of years as international, national and state tournaments seem to be ever increasing in popularity. Next week marks the start of this year's World Pond Hockey Championships in Plaster Rock, New Brunswick where you can "be the world champion of your childhood dreams".

The tournament, moving into it's 6th year, features more than a 100 teams from every province in Canada, 35 states and 15 different countries. Over 8000 people are expected to make the trek to Plaster Rock (pop. 1,150) this year to see the event.

Besides the World Championships there is the US Pond Hockey Championships held each year in Minnesota. This year's tournament took place just a couple of weeks ago with 160 teams vying for the coveted Golden Shovel. (Some great footage from the event is found below.)

There is also the Canadian Pond Hockey Championships currently being held in Muskoka, Ontario. Nearly 150 teams are competing in this years event trying to bring home the Maple Cup. (Wooden trophies in the likeness of the Stanley and Grey Cups made of maple.)

If you can't make it to the big events then there are more than enough other tournaments in places like Lake Placid, Maine, Wisconsin, Colorado, the UP, pretty much every province in Canada, and well...the list is long since new competitions seems to spring up every year. Their popularity as such has even prompted a documentary film simply entitled Pond Hockey. The film, which will be released later this year, is described so: "More than just a celebration of a beloved game, Pond Hockey searches the open ice for the true meaning of sport." The trailer is up on their site via the link above.

The NHL, in conjunction with the Winter Classic, also wrote a nice piece on the growing trend of pond hockey tournaments here and how they are thriving. As did Yahoo!, Sports Illustrated, ESPN...

Why have they become so popular? Why not? Heated beer tents, hockey in a friendly competitive way, like minded people, small trophies that look like the Stanley Cup....how the heck could that not be popular. Did I mention rinkside heated beer tents? I don't think I could imagine a better weekend.

Below is some footage from the US Championships which have now concluded for the year. It includes the greatest description of what a hockey player is that I have ever heard....and Phil Housley.