colintimberlake.comTell her it wasn’t you…

I am always look for inspiration in training and life and one man that has provided more than his share over the years is Mike Modano.

The hockey legend played what may have been the final home game of his illustrious career last night, and the Dallas fans had no issue letting him know how much they appreciated what he had done for the team and the city.

You have to hope at some level that he comes back for another year or more, but if this was truly it, the game tying goal and a goal in the shootout is a pretty good way to close the book. Even on a team that misses the playoff, he finds a way to go out like a champion.

Is it a calculated tug at nationalistic heartstrings with almost subliminal product placement? Yes… Is the near-subliminal product placement followed by a near-shameless full-screen plug like a Brock Lesnar hammer fist to the back of the head? Yes…

But it still kicks ass.

Well, he is exactly the kind of guy that, on paper, I want to dislike vehemently. He walks around singing those old Bobby Derrin / Frank Sinatra type songs, making puppy dog eyes at the camera, crooning and supposedly making women swoon. Little bastard Michael Buble.

Every time I see a picture of the dude, he’s making some kind of either “fake 1930s tough” or “look my eyes are so full of emotion” expression. And that kind of music is just straight up not my thing. It’s like Grey’s Anatomy or America’s Next Top Model. You tolerate it because girls seem to like it and you don’t feel like arguing over the remote control, and that’s pretty much it.

So why can’t I simply just hate Michael Buble?

Because the Grammys are tomorrow and the dude flew out from LA for one night to do color commentary for the Vancouver Canucks on their radio affiliate Team 1040. That’s right, local legend Tom Larscheid took the night off and that’s crooner / swooner / supposedly annoying zoot-suit guy Michael Buble in the booth with play-by-play fixture John Shorthouse.

And Buble knows the game. You can tell he’s a longtime loyal Canadian hockey fan. He’s referencing Kirk McLean and far lesser-known old-school Canuck greats like Petri Skriko, Rick Lanz and Thomas Gradin. Frankly, this guy is making it impossible to hate him. And the color commentary isn’t too bad at all.

I guess the same way Jerry Rice and Warren Sapp can step onto Dancing with the Stars and win over the Oprah / Project Runway / American Idol viewing demographic… Well, Michael Buble is proving himself to be the kind of guy you just might not have to kick the crap out of if he knocked over your beer at the bar.

I can only say that if I ever became a multi-million album selling, Grammy award winning singer, I would still want to fly out for a night to do color commentary on the radio for the home team. Good work Buble. You have earned your “man card.”

It seems like there are too many people these days sitting at home with a copy of Windows Moviemaker and the ability to capture snippets of YouTube video. The result, more often than not, is some choppy random collage of meaningless images put over some Nickelback song or the Rocky theme, usually to the detriment of the footage and the music.

In this case, a fan went and did right by Minnesota / Dallas hockey legend Mike Modano.

From his humble beginnings as a nervous teenager selected 1st overall in the 1988 NHL entry draft, through to his becoming the most prolific and successful American-born hockey player in the history of the league, Fan X did an admirable job of selecting the right clips, timing the editing and selecting the music. Enjoy some highlights of one of the all-time NHL greats.

Well, I posted recently on the greatness of Bryan Trottier and included the video that the Hockey Hall of Fame put together on his legendary career. But for those who weren’t watching carefully at the time, it may not have been evident that Trottier was as competitive as any, and that mean streak made its way into his on-ice trash talk.

Let’s just say that while he didn’t make any references to “sloppy seconds” (a la Sean Avery), he did coin a fresh term as he and teammate Kevin Stevens tore a stripe off of Minnesota North Stars legend Brian Bellows in the 1991 Stanley Cup Finals. As fantastic as the heckling is, I wonder if Bellows would really be that insulted. Could it be taken as a compliment for any self-respecting hockey player?

The Penguins went on to win the Stanley Cup in 1991 and in the following year. Trottier was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame with 1,425 career points (and 184 in the playoffs). But it has been often overlooked that Bellows had a pretty spectacular career of his own. He retired in 1999 with 1,022 career points (and 122 in the playoffs), including a career year with 55 goals and 99 points in 1989-90.

Two players with Hall of Fame skills, but only one with a Hall of Fame mouth!

The following video is a montage that was put together by the Hockey Fall of Fame to honor the induction of New York Islanders great Bryan Trottier.

Trottier combined a rare level of talent and finesse with an abrasive physical game that earned him the Conn Smythe Trophy (playoff MVP), Art Ross Trophy (top scorer) and Hart Trophy (league MVP) in a career that saw his name engraved on the Stanley Cup six times: four times with the legendary Islanders dynasty, and twice with the Pittsburgh Penguins. For these final two cups, the former scoring prodigy had remolded himself into a grizzled defensive forward, specializing in shutting down the opposing team’s top offensive talents.

He finished his career with an astounding 1,425 points, to which he added 184 in the playoffs.

The following clip is simply a video that was put together by the New York Islanders organization to commemorate and honor the career of one of their greatest stars, Hall of Famer Mike Bossy. The man was only the second player in NHL history to score 50 goals in 50 games, to which he added the Conn Smythe, Lady Byng and Calder trophies.

Bossy retired with the best goals-per-game average in the history of hockey, a mark that he still holds. One of the classiest players in the history of the game was rightfully the recipient of a classy gesture on the part of one of hockey’s great organizations.

There are only two jerseys retired in the Vancouver Canucks organization, with #12 Stan Smyl and #16 Trevor Linden having made unparalleled contributions to the leadership of the hockey club.

But when the discussion turns to any other players who might warrant the honor, the names thrown around are typically Markus Naslund (#19), Cliff Ronning (#7) and Doug Lidster (#3). The former Canucks captain set the club record for points by a defenseman in a single season (63) in the mid-1980s, a record that still stands. He is also arguably the most talented and graceful skater ever to lace up the skates in Vancouver.

He played for the Canucks from 1983 through 1993, before finishing up his career with the New York Rangers and Dallas Stars, where he contributed to a pair of Stanley Cups. These made for some lofty accomplishments for a player who was drafted 133rd overall (7th round) in 1980 and didn’t don an NHL jersey until three years later.

But his NHL career was sandwiched by two stints with the Canadian National Team, where he played 66 games in 1983-84, and then another 38 in 1998-99. Over these 104 games, he scored 47 points in international competition.

In recent years, Lidster has taken to coaching, with stints as an assistant with Medicine Hat in the WHL, and as a head coach with the OHL’s Saginaw Spirit. Of particular note is that he will be serving Canada again with his hockey expertise, this time as a coach. Lidster has signed on to coach the Canadian women’s Olympic hockey team at the 2010 games in Vancouver, providing another opportunity for one of the Canucks’ all time greats to put on a familiar display of leadership and patriotism.

As if a go-around with both colon and liver cancer weren’t enough, it was made public today that the man who inspired many by coming back to coaching after facing off against cancer…is going to have to do it again.

The former cop and junior hockey player has been named the NHL coach of the year three separate times (1989, 1993 and 1998). He has added a Stanley Cup with the New Jersey Devils (2003) and appeared in the finals one other time with the Montreal Canadiens (1989).

It is pretty safe to say that a man with his credentials rightly belongs in the Hockey Hall of Fame, as one of the great coaches of the modern era. The hockey world is undoubtedly wishing him the best and standing in his corner as he prepares to battle once again with one of the world’s most fearsome villains.

This man is one of the greats and he’s already proven he’s a fighter. The greats always have another round left in them.

I heard an interesting discussion today, in which a change to the NHL rules was proposed. It struck me as a decent idea and it pretty much went as follows:

if a player on Team A is interfered with on a breakaway against Team B, the rules presently call for a penalty shot for Team A. Given that Team A has been the wronged party, and a penalty shot has been historically considered a more valuable opportunity, why not give the coach of Team A the opportunity to decline the penalty shot and take a power play (2 minute minor to Team B) instead?

The idea makes some sense for several reasons. First, the penalty shot was once revered as the rarest and most special moment in hockey. But in recent years, they have not only become more common, but have almost completely lost their novelty due to the advent of shootouts when a game remains tied after overtime. In these games, viewers are treated to a minimum of six penalty shots, and sometimes more than twenty. Penalty shots just aren’t that special anymore.

Second, as Team A is the wronged party, there is an inherent justice in giving them the option to choose the remedy of their liking.

And third, it would implement a new element of strategy into coaching at the NHL level. Opting for the two minute minor could allow the coach to drain the opposing team’s penalty killers and keep opposing prolific scorers (who rarely kill penalties) on the bench.

Finally, it could increase scoring and excitement, especially if the “penalty shot infraction” occurred while Team A was already on a 5-on-4 power play. While a penalty shot results in one great scoring chance, goaltenders typically stop two-thirds of penalty shots (or more). With a two minute power play (and especially a 5-on-3) there could be an array of scoring chances, depending on Team A’s power play proficiency.

On the other hand, a penalty shot is (in its way) the perfect retribution. What was lost due to the infraction was a breakaway for Team A. Team A had a breakaway, which was illegally foiled by Team A. The solution? A breakaway (penalty shot). While a two-minute minor may also be a suitable remedy, a penalty shot is an almost-exact replica of the opportunity that was lost due to the infraction.