’08 NHL stories: Youth and snow
By Ross McKeon, Yahoo! Sports Dec 29, 10:02 am EST
The NHL continued to elbow its way back into the pro sports’ landscape following a season lost to a labor dispute in 2005, making slow but steady headway.
Young stars still are emerging in the game that is faster than ever thanks to continued enforcement of penalty standards. Also, the league again has attempted to branch out and reach new audiences by staging more games abroad and a highly successful outdoor event in Buffalo on the very first day of the year.
In the end, however, it was an Original Six team that skated off with the Stanley Cup as the Detroit Red Wings left no doubt about who was the best team of the season, beating the Pittsburgh Penguins in six games in the finals.
Top 10 stories of 2008
Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek throws a puck during a bully between Tampa Bay Lightning captain Vincent Lecavalier (R) and New York Ranger’s captain Chris Drury during the opening match of the NHL’s 2008-09 season.
10. Season opener in Europe: The league continues to try to promote itself on a worldwide stage, and that meant starting the 2008-09 regular season with an NHL-first pair of games on European soil. The Ottawa Senators and the Penguins played twice in Stockholm, Sweden, while the New York Rangers and Tampa Bay Lightning squared off for two in Prague, Czech Republic.
9. Schedule change: After complaints from fans and players alike, the league compromised its schedule matrix to allow teams to face every other team in the league, either home or away, during the 2008-09 season. The adjustment meant a reduction of games against division rivals, but it didn’t go as far as to ensure that each team would visit every building in the league each season.
8. Death of Russian prospect: The inaugural season for the fledgling pro league in Russia – the Continental Hockey League – drew negative attention and harsh criticism when 19-year-old Rangers prospect Alexei Cherepanov died during a game. It was later determined that Cherepanov had an undetected heart condition, and that the league didn’t have as much emergency personnel and equipment as it could have. Just this week, investigators determined Cherepanov used performance-enhancing drugs for several months before his death, bringing about more questions around his health.
Nicklas Lidstrom of the Red Wings celebrates with the Stanley Cup after defeating the Penguins in the NHL Stanley Cup Finals.
7. Richard Zednik injury: Presence of mind by the Florida Panthers forward and expert medical attention quite possibly saved Richard Zednik’s life after he was accidentally sliced on the neck during a game at Buffalo in early February. Zednik required emergency surgery to repair his badly cut carotid artery and returned at the outset of the new season determined not to let the near-fatal injury detour his career.
6. Red Wings dominance: Detroit skated to the franchise’s 11th Stanley Cup in impressive fashion, beating the youthful Penguins in six games after dispatching Nashville, Colorado and Dallas in the Western Conference. The Red Wings were efficient all season, winning the Presidents’ Trophy for the regular-season’s best record, and Wings skaters also captured numerous individual postseason awards.
5. Big-money contract extensions: They laughed when Rick DiPietro signed a 15-year deal the year before, but in 2008 the trend was to sign franchise-type players long-term. Washington’s Alexander Ovechkin led the way with a 13-year, $124-million deal.
4.Avery out in Dallas: It took the controversial forward just a couple of months with a new team to land in hot water again. Sean Avery’s inappropriate and offensive comments made in reference to ex-girlfriend Elisha Cuthbert dating other NHL players earned him a six-game suspension from the league and the edict not to return to the Stars. The story is ongoing, but Dallas management has made it clear they want nothing to do with Avery going forward.
Fans cheer with the Buffalo Sabres mascot, Sabretooth, during the NHL Winter Classic between the Sabres and the Penguins at the Ralph Wilson Stadium on January 1, 2008 in Orchard Park, New York.
3. Emergence of league’s youth: Not only are more and more players jumping straight from junior hockey to the NHL, but it isn’t taking very long for them to become stars. Ovechkin, Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin are just three examples.
2. Pittsburgh’s quick emergence: All that potential and expectations for the future arrived in 2007-08 in the form of an Eastern Conference title as the Baby Penguins evoked comparisons to the Cup-winning teams of the early 1990s with an exciting brand of hockey. Led by youngsters Crosby, Malkin, Jordan Staal and Marc-Andre Fleury, Pittsburgh tore through the East playoffs by winning 16 of 18 games before meeting their demise against Detroit.
1. Winter Classic: Buffalo’s Ralph Wilson Stadium was filled with more than 70,000 fans braving the elements, and the outdoor game appeared to be played in a snow globe for the national viewing audience as the Sabres and Penguins put on a show that exceeded all expectations. Television ratings went through the roof, the players, coaches and fans gave their unwavering support and the game was an instant classic as Pittsburgh won 2-1 on Crosby’s shootout goal.
