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...

NHL interview sites and podcasts

Hockey players are a different breed and listening to them talk about the game, their hometown and their lives is always entertaining. There are a number of sites on-line that feature these audio files (and in some cases video) and I'd recommend checking them out if you have an interest in getting beyond just the name and stats of player's past and present.

The Hockey Hall of Fame have a huge media library that is usually overlooked by visitors to their site. Found in their Audio/Video Vault here, they have short biography clips with a lot of seldom seen footage for nearly 50 members. They also have files from player inductions, interviews with members, and even the locker room footage following Anaheim's win of the Cup last year. You could spend easily an hour watching the footage in the Legend Spotlight section - don't miss the Bobby Orr video.

Another site, far less known than the HHOF, is a place called TheHockey.Net (great name), where they have about 3-4 dozen interviews from about 5-10 years ago as well as some video. Found here and divided into sections for Playoffs, Regular Season, Classics, and Olympics it's a trove. The site was last updated in 2003 by the looks of it, but all of the files still work. Great interviews with the likes of Mike Ricci, Al MacInnis, Alexander Mogilny, and (not to be missed) Slava Fetisov.

The NHL Radio has three podcasts (links will open in iTunes) that focus on player interviews as well as historical perspectives of the league. One on One with Sam Rosen is a weekly clip with interviews of players past and present as well as other notable figures (like Gary Bettman...). Most recently the show featured Mike Babcock, in the last month you get a two part interview with Teemu Selanne and the energetic Darren Pang.

Interviews and Features another NHL Radio segment, has almost 90 audio files from this season available to listen to. A lot of interviews with coaches around the league as well current players. Most of the content focuses on the this season and the upcoming playoffs. Highly entertaining interviews with Ovechkin among others...especially the one involving a discussion around whether or not he's old enough to drink beer.

And, finally, Doc's Classic NHL looks like it is finally back after a long hiatus. Every week the Devil's Mike Emrick narrates a 5 minute look back at a particular team, player or incident from NHL history. These are actually really entertaining as they feature audio clips from different sources as well as brief interviews. This week's subject was the 1967 Leafs team, and some highlights of the past have included the zamboni, Dave "The Hammer" Schultz, the California Seals, Patrick Roy, and a very modest Phil Housley....

If you've got any tips on other sites feel free to share them.

Teemu's Back

While Peter Forsberg continues to try and make a return to the NHL at some point another Scandinavian is officially doing it. Selanne signed a 1-year contract with Anaheim yesterday ending all of the speculation regarding his possible comeback. His activation is immediate and he'll finish out the season with the team. Official press release with video etc. can be found on the Ducks homepage here.

Anaheim, who had four players in the All Star game this year, certainly doesn't need any additional help on offense, but throwing a 37-year old Teemu into the mix certainly won't hurt them. In 14 years in the NHL he's managed 1135 points, including 540 goals. Last season alone he had 48, his highest total in 10 years - so me thinks he's still got it.

For those that remember the year Selanne came into the NHL then there are few players that have so utterly justified themselves the way he did. Scoring 76 goals in Winnipeg on the way to the Calder and breaking just about every rookie record written. I'd pay good money to get all of those goals on one DVD, the guy was nothing short of magic. I remember seeing him standing behind the net with the puck unable to find a pass in one game. Instead of trying to bring the puck out he flipped it over the goal and tried to beat the defense and knock it out of the air. He failed at the attempt but that play was the type of thing he was typical of in those days. Like a shark...

And so 8 minutes of Teemu classics....

Owen Nolan, the 1997 All Star Game

Well, with All Star Weekend upon us I thought I'd take a look back at one of the more amusing moments in All Star history. In 1997 Owen Nolan scored a hat trick in the game (however he lost out to Gretzky as MVP, how many people can say that..). His third goal became an instant classic as he pointed top shelf on Hasek before putting the puck there. I guess if you can back up that kind of thing then you're not being pompas. Mind you, this game was in San Jose and Nolan was a Shark at the time as well...

I wonder if that would count as a trick shot in tomorrow's competition?

Classic NHL - Lemieux's First Goal

Mario Lemieux came into the league with a lot of expectations riding on him, he didn't dissapoint. He scored on his very first shot, on his first shift in his very first game...taking the puck away from none other than Ray Bourque...

Classic NHL - 1980 All-Star Game Intros

This would be the first All-Star game for a kid name Wayne (nice hair) and the last for Gordie Howe. Fittingly enough it took place in Detroit. There's no action here, but just to see some of these guys skate onto the ice on such an occasion is enough.

You think the new Edge jerseys are small? Guy Lafleur looks like he's wearing a long sleeve t-shirt...

Speaking of the jerseys, do you think that 5 NHL logos is enough?

Classic NHL - Roy and Roenick

Post-game press conferences tend to be boring. When interviewed and questioned most players throw out lines that sound nearly scripted. One can only hear the lines,"They're a tough team and it's gonna be a real test", and "We played really well tonight." so many times...

But, occasionally someone manages to utter something beyond the trite cliches and such statements usually end up as part of NHL history. One such incident is the infamous Patrick Roy-Jeremy Roenick battle of words from the 1996 playoffs.

On their way to winning the Stanley Cup that year the Avalanche met the Blackhawks in the Western Conference semi-finals. In game three Roenick scored on a breakaway beating Roy and sending the game into overtime, Chicago would eventually win. In game four Roenick was stopped by Roy on a breakaway in overtime while being hauled down. One can debate whether a penalty shot should have been called, but one never was. Sakic scored the game winner in triple overtime. (The Blackhawks would go down in six games.)

Roenick, never one to keep his thoughts to himself, told the press after the game, "...there should have been a penalty shot [on the play]. I like Patrick's comment when he said he could have stopped me [on the breakaway]. I'd like to know where Patrick was in Game 3, probably up trying to get his jock out of the rafters." (from Wikipedia)

That in itself is a classic line, and had it been someone else other than Roy it probably would have been shaken off as post-game annoyance and frustration. However, Patrick Roy is not and has never been that type of person....and his response was legendary.



"I can't hear what Jeremy says, because I've got my two Stanley Cup rings plugging my ears."

Classic NHL - The Philadelphia Story

A lot of people have an issue with Chris Chelios and a substantial number of those people live in Philadelphia. For those of you who wonder about this anomaly I invite you to return to the 1989 Stanley Cup Conference finals between the Flyers and Canadiens. It's Game 1 (in Montreal), and a then 27 year old Chris Chelios gets his elbow up on Brian Propp in the corner. (The video below is kind of brutal to watch, be warned...) Propp suffered a concussion but would only miss Game 2 before returning in Game 3. The hit Chelios threw would go unpenalized and ignited nothing short of a vendetta between the two teams (and most of the city of Philadelphia and Chris Chelios personally.) This at a time when raining beer bottles and a half full beer glasses from the stands was something commonplace in the Spectrum, in Game 4 the Canadiens had to be escorted from the arena by police.



Retaliation was really only a question of who and when. In what can be considered a show of restraint, the moment pretty much came when the Flyers season was already doomed. With 1:37 left in Game 6 (in Philadelphia), the Canadiens were leading the series 3-2 and winning the game 4-2, revenge came through an unlikely candidate: goalie Ron Hextall.



Needless to say the Flyers were knocked out of the playoffs, the Canadiens would go on to lose in the finals to Calgary. Hextall would be given a 5-minute major and a match penalty and a 12 game suspension to start the next season. (Oddly enough Hextall still holds the record for most penalty minutes for a goalie in one season with 113 in 1988-89.) To this day Chelios is still relentlessly booed in Philadelphia, most notably at the 1992 All-Star Game.

In an odd twist to things, in the famous clip of Chris telling Mike North that "He hates Detroit" actually says that he wouldn't mind playing in Philadelphia. That would have been an interesting turn of events...

Federov vs. Kisio

This is one of those times I am actually happy that YouTube exists. I've been trying to find video of this for ages, and low and behold someone actually put this up for the world to relive.

Sergei Federov is known for a couple of things, scoring goals and defecting from the Soviet Union, what he isn't famous for is his fighting skills. Although, he ought to be...

I don't know what Kelly Kisio said but it must have been pretty bad.



Wait for the replay at the end to truly understand what I'm talking about.

Joost.com showing classic NHL games

For those of you unaware of Joost.com it is a website filled with content and channels showing different programs, sporting events, videos and more...It includes the likes of Adult Swim, The Onion, Reuters, Major League Baseball, National Lampoon and...the NHL.

The National Hockey League has two channels available: NHL Classic Games and NHL 2007 Playoffs. Downloading the Joost player will allow you to watch any of about 50 different games. Maybe not as exciting with last years playoffs, but very cool to see the games they have in the Classic section; such as the Flyers v Sabres in the 1975 Stanley Cup Finals, and the Oilers v Flames in the Conference Semis from 1983. It may not be high-def but it's a treat to watch.

Joost is available for Windows, and for Intel based Macs...unfortunate for the likes of us with old G5s kicking around.

Check it out!