The Jersey Database Has Officially Moved

For a long list of reasons I have moved the jersey database that was a large part of HockeyWidgets.com to it's own website: JerseyDatabase.com. The new site is wholly dedicated to the jerseys and includes the new Wiki pages and more. By separating the two site I will better be able to concentrate on the content of each individually. HockeyWidgets will be dedicated to the widgets themselves, JerseyDatabase the jerseys, only the forum will remain connected to both.

For now there are still a lot of reminders and referring links on this site about the move, eventually these will be removed so if you have bookmarks please update them.

With any issues or problems please see the Forum or contact me.

JerseyDatabase.com Wiki Contest - With Prizes!

With the release of the new site as well as the new Wiki pages, what better way to get people active than to have a little contest. Starting today there will be a contest where the person with the most entries as of July 1st, 2008 will receive a couple of books (and a great deal of gratitude!)

The contest is open to everyone, all you need to do is start an account on JerseyDatabase.com and start adding information for your favorite teams and players. There will be a list with the standings if you want to know where you rank in the runnings.


The winner will receive a copy of Sports Illustrated 50 Year Anniversary as well as their choice of either The Baseball Book or the The Football Book. All three books are ca. 300 pages long and filled with hundreds of photographs. (See the links to Amazon.com for more information.) Needless to say if you care about sports they'll be of some interest.

For more details see the contest page here.

Best of luck to everyone and thanks for helping make JerseyDatabase.com a better place!


/KP

Introducing Jersey and Player Wikis

As of today a whole new feature has been added to the jersey database located at JerseyDatabase.com. You can now read more about the jerseys, get links, see images and videos, as well as see an overview of all the jerseys and jersey styles for a player and team available in the database. There is a lot to of work to get done to bring things up to speed, but anyone and everyone is welcome to help by adding information, links, videos and images of their favorite players and jerseys. Simply login or create an account at JerseyDatabase.com and you'll have the ability to add to the Wiki pages. As soon as your entries have been checked they will be posted (more than likely within an hour or less).

To access a player's Wiki page simply click on this button next to a player's jersey thumbnail in the database. On this page you'll find a link for adding to that player's information.

For the moment the following information is available:
- Information specific to a player for a number and team
- External links for player (including stats and biographies)
- External links for leagues and events
- External links for teams
- Videos featuring the player specific to the jersey
- Videos featuring a team in a specific jersey
- Information about the specific jersey
- Images of the jersey from webshots.com or similar, with links
- External links to images of a specific player's jersey
- Complete list of all jerseys in the database for the player
- Complete list of different jersey styles for a team in the database

It is my hope that over time the database and the Wiki pages will give people a great place to search and find information about how players, teams, numbers and jerseys are all tied together.

Braydon Coburn: 50 Stitches After Getting Hit By Puck

This isn't too pretty to watch, and will no doubt fuel an even stronger debate about mandatory visors in the NHL, but this is footage of the Flyers Braydon Coburn getting a shot above the eye from a Malkin deflection via Hal Gill. It took 50 stitches to close the cut and indications are that no bones were broken. Chances are Coburn will be on the ice again tomorrow night when the Penguins and Flyers play in Philadelphia...

Video of Finland's Non-Goal Vs. USA

Finland and the US played yesterday in the IIHF World Championships and one of the more interesting highlights to come out of the game was a non-goal that Finland scored through the side of the net. (The come from behind win by Finland and large fight at the end of the game was also interesting.)

What is most amusing about the goal, scored by Ville Koistinen, is not that it went through the side of the net, but rather that it was actually reviewed by the refs and allowed to stand.

You be the judge:


If you said "No", then you are in agreement with the IIHF who acknowledged this following the game. They also dismissed the goal judge in question for the rest of the tournament. I'm not even going to consider what the reaction would have been if this had happened in the Stanley Cup Playoffs...

The Battle of Pennsylvania 2008

Not since Gettysburg has a battle of this proportion taken place within the borders of the Keystone State. (Well, at least not since last time the two teams met in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.) Starting tonight a state united by common laws, a common name, and a common wealth, will stand divided as the West and the East go to war with one another.

Yes, the rather subdued of late instate rivalry between the Flyers and Penguins will more than likely be re-awoken over the coming weeks as both teams vie for the right to represent PA in the Finals.

Now, if you had to put money on this (and I mean a lot of money) I imagine you'd follow the advise of the analysts, bloggers, newspapers, oddsmakers, and probably even the dude next door who doesn't follow hockey and go with the Penguins. They've cleaned house so far in the playoffs, they have what's-his-Crosby and Malkin and Hossa and Fleury and a bunch of other guys who you've heard of. They won their division and had a number 2 seeding in the Eastern Conference. Mathematics points out the obvious: they win more games.

But, in sports it's never that easy. Especially in hockey were on any given night any team can beat any other team. And the Flyers have thus far proven that they have the uncanny ability to defy the assumptions of the press and even the defeatist mentality of their own fans. Squeaking into the playoffs, second to the bottom of the Atlantic Division, and seeded number 6 they beat Washington (which they weren't supposed to do and even more amazing did it in game 7 on the road.) Following that they did the more unthinkable and disposed of number 1 ranked Montreal in 5 games. The disbelievers will point out that Montreal beat themselves, but the fact remains that the Flyers are not golfing yet and the Canadiens are shining their clubs.

There you have it, the expected-to-win Penguins against the how-did-they-get-there Flyers. If the Penguins win in 4 the pundits will merely nod their heads. If the Flyers win in 7 they'll be the cinderella team that battled their way to the finals...and probably end up on the cover of Sports Illustrated. But, first they'll actually have to play at least 240 minutes of hockey against each other.

The Math
How do these two teams actually stack up statistically?
I was going to list off a bunch of percentages and have a graph of some nature here, but suffice to say that Pittsburgh is ahead on just about all of them. Except for the small fact that the two teams met each other 8 times during the regular season and Philadelphia won 5 of the 8 games. (62.5%) Which, technically makes all other stats devoid of merit.

The Cities
Moving on to the more important aspect of the Battle of Pennsylvania. How do Pittsburgh and Philadelphia stack up? Here are some comparisons for those not familiar with the Quaker State's two largest cities.

Population (Metro):
Philadelphia: 5,823,233 +1
Pittsburgh: 2,870,776

Year Founded:
Philadelphia: 1682 +1
Pittsburgh: 1758

By Whom:
Philadelphia: The Swedes +1
Pittsburgh: The French

Elevation:
Philadelphia: 39 ft.
Pittsburgh: 1,223 ft. +1

Number of Bridges:
Philadelphia: Less than 446
Pittsburgh: 446 +1

Highest Temperature Recorded (in Fahrenheit):
Philadelphia: 104 +1
Pittsburgh: 101

Lowest Temperature Recorded (in Fahrenheit):
Philadelphia: -7
Pittsburgh: -19 +1

Percentage of people who voted for Bush in 2004:
Philadelphia: 19.3% +1
Pittsburgh: 42.1%

Number of Major Sports Championships:
Philadelphia: 5
Pittsburgh: 12 +1

Very Slanted Totals:
Philadelphia: 5
Pittsburgh: 4

Conclusion: Too close to call...will depend entirely on the quality of the referees, the ice, and the goaltending.