Palin associates with known thugs

In an era where the game of hockey struggles with it's identity in the United States, Ed Snider of the Philadelphia Flyers has decided bad publicity is still publicity.
"Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, the nation’s most popular hockey mom, will join the winner of the Philadelphia Flyers regional search for the “Ultimate Hockey Mom” contest and drop the puck at the ceremonial opening face-off as the home team Flyers host the New York Rangers at the Wachovia Center on Saturday, October 11 at 7 p.m.

“Because of the tremendous amount of publicity she has brought to our sport, we invited the most popular hockey mom in North America to our home opener to help us get our season started,” said Comcast-Spectacor Chairman Ed Snider who founded the Flyers in 1967. “We are very excited she has accepted our offer and we are very proud of the publicity she is generating for hockey moms and the sport of hockey.”

The Flyers have been searching for the ultimate hockey mom in the Greater Philadelphia Region through an on line contest which asked hockey players or hockey moms themselves to submit their hockey mom poster to the team."

First of all, there is never a good reason to inject politics into sports. I don't care if they have Obama the next night. It's hockey. Leave the political grandstanding at home. Secondly, the press release from the Flyers is a tad decieving. It says nothing of Palin being the Vice-Presidential candidate, which is why she is there, not that she is the Governor of Alaska or "America's Favorite Hockey Mom" (by the way, can anyone confirm that any of her kids are still playing hockey? And just for clarification, hockey moms don't collect a per diem for taking their kids to the rink). It also implies that Snider is just trying to tie in a cute little promotion. A quick check of Mr. Snider's campaign donations show that perhaps it was his $25,000 donation to McCain's campaign that had more to do with it than anything else. The reaction from Flyers' fans has been strong to say the least, with a lot of strong feelings of anger on both sides. Expect her to get booed, rather soundly. That's not the big deal here. The big deal is another situation where hockey looks bad in the eyes of Americans. Take a bow, Mr. Snider. You've taken the lead from Gary Bettman in the "one up" game to destroy the NHL.

Random Thoughts...

They have 2 periods in the books in London, and it's pretty obvious which team did a better job of preparing for this 2 game set. The Kings look focused and fresh, and the Ducks look like they are still in pre-season mode. While the Ducks were taking publicity photos around town for their website and the league, the Kings were in a tournament in Austria (which they won). Goaltender Jonathan Bernier has looked very sharp, picking up where he left off in the Canada/Russia Super Series. Could he be the answer to LA's goaltending woes? Overall the Kings are starting to put the pieces together. They have a nice blend of youth and experience, and with superstars in waiting Kopitar and Johnson, they could be a sleeper pick this year. Anaheim looks lost at times. Passing is off, they don't seem to have any real chemistry with each other. It's probably too early to tell, but it looks like they are already missing Selanne and Niedermeyer.

I thought the opening of the game was rather ironic... could you have a greater analogy for the career of Gary Bettman than that half hour delay, which I am sure they knew was going to happen, but they did it anyways. Amazing there hasn't been a groin pull yet (that I know of... I missed part of the 2nd)... Nice to hear Jim Hughson again, but lo and behold there's Greg Millen, and right out of the gate he "educates" us by telling us there are a lot of people in the surrounding area of the O2 arena. Get out!?! So London's big, eh? Who knew?

A few years back, I took my son to see WCW wrestling in Kamloops. I remember the only disappointment I felt was at the end of the night, there had not been a single chair shot. You know these fans will be feeling the same if there isn't a fight in this game...

Bertuzzi seems to be fairly static, cruising around the net, sometimes getting involved, but more often than not being part of an 'almost' play, as has been his M.O. lately...

And what the hell was the NHL thinking sending Mick McGeough to officiate this game. In an international showcase for the game, they send the Bird of Paradise. Sheesh.