If you are not a regular reader of Damien Cox's blog or columns, then you're missing out. For some reason, the normally mild-mannered Cox is really cranky this year and is bashing out columns on his keyboard like a bear with a thorn in his paw.
His recent take on HNIC rings true:
"Much of hockey-loving Canada was left with the same question after Hockey Night in Canada's 10-hour marathon on Saturday. Who the hell is P.J. Stock, and has anyone ever absorbed so much air time and said so very little? "
I concur.
Like William Houston of the Globe says, the Hotstove segment (in between the third and second periods) hasn't been relevant since Al "The Beauty" Strachan was unceremoniously booted, apparently due to complaints from various NHL club executives.
It's now even harder putting up with Ron Maclean's weekly rants about the good old days of the NHL when you could clutch and grab with impunity without some valid entertainment like Strach enraging Gary Bettman or ripping into the Toronto Maple Leaf ownership.
Hockey Night In Canada has basically devolved into the shrine for the fourth line player. Players like Sidney Crosby and Ilya Kovalchuk get short shrift from Maclean and Don Cherry. But good old pluggers like Gary Roberts and Darcy Tucker are celebrated beyond all conventions of good taste.
His recent take on HNIC rings true:
"Much of hockey-loving Canada was left with the same question after Hockey Night in Canada's 10-hour marathon on Saturday. Who the hell is P.J. Stock, and has anyone ever absorbed so much air time and said so very little? "
I concur.
Like William Houston of the Globe says, the Hotstove segment (in between the third and second periods) hasn't been relevant since Al "The Beauty" Strachan was unceremoniously booted, apparently due to complaints from various NHL club executives.
It's now even harder putting up with Ron Maclean's weekly rants about the good old days of the NHL when you could clutch and grab with impunity without some valid entertainment like Strach enraging Gary Bettman or ripping into the Toronto Maple Leaf ownership.
Hockey Night In Canada has basically devolved into the shrine for the fourth line player. Players like Sidney Crosby and Ilya Kovalchuk get short shrift from Maclean and Don Cherry. But good old pluggers like Gary Roberts and Darcy Tucker are celebrated beyond all conventions of good taste.
The dinosaur mentality is cleary in charge at HNIC, no matter how many cosmetic changes are made.
No comments:
Post a Comment