Podcast International Hockey Special – Part 1 Now Online!

Premier Sports Bob Ballard and The Hockey House’s Steven Ellis were kind enough to join me for an International Hockey Special this week.

What started out as a look at back at the World Championships developed in to a look ahead to Sochi 2014 as well as a little lamenting at the state of Team GB – and so we ended up with a part 1, 2 and 3

Part 1 is online now, where the three of us discuss the recent IIHF World Championships in Sweden.

You can listen or download it from our Spreaker page HERE, or you can find us on iTunes HERE

Part 2 will look ahead to Sochi 2014, whilst part 3 focusses on Team GB.

Happy listening.

Avs Future Firmly in the Hands of the Past

Colorado announced that legendary netminder Patrick Roy would assume the mantle of both Head Coach and Vice President of Hockey Operations last night.

Roy, now 47, won two Stanley Cups with the Avs and had been linked with the vacant Head Coaches position ever since Joe Sacco was dismissed, following a disastrous season which saw the franchise finish 29th overall.

The appointment is the latest signal that the Avs want to change the culture of the club and re-capture the glory days – seemingly by getting the stars of old to guide the new generation.

Would Avs Really Pass on Jones?

It seems the majority of pundits, aficionados and fans have Seth Jones as a lock to go first overall at this summers draft.

It’s not hard to see why. The Portland Winterhawks D man has had a stand out season, winning World Junior gold with Team USA and currently competing for the Memorial Cup in Saskatoon.

But Avalanche Chief Scout Rick Pracey told the Denver Post’s Adrian Dater that “It’s by far not a slam dunk.”

As Dater speculates, Pracey may just be saying this because he ‘has to’; to keep ones cards close to the chest as it were. But what are the Avs options? And what does each potential #1 pick offer the franchise?

The One Puck Short End of Season Awards

The 2012/13 regular season had its fair share of thrills, surprises and talking points. From Toronto’s first post season appearance for nearly a decade to Colorado’s spiral in to the basement, the truncated season gave its shares of highs and lows.

In time honoured tradition, the NHL will hand out a series of awards to those that lit up the regular season in a ceremony during this years Stanley Cup Final. One Puck Short pays tribute to those that led the way this season and, with the help of some friends, serves up our own selections for the major awards.

8 Things The Play-Offs Have Given Us

We’re now well in to Round 1 of the 2013 Stanley Cup play-offs, and there have been no shortage of thrills, spills and chills….down the back of our spine…with excitement…..yep…

*ahem*

As the Bruins, Leafs, Caps, Rangers, Ducks, Wings, Blues and Kings all prepare to do battle once again tonight, it felt like a good time to share a few of the things that have ‘lit up’ round 1 for this viewer thus far

The One Puck Short Podcast Hits iTunes!

The One Puck Short Podcast is now available on iTunes! So you can subscribe and enjoy my dulcet tones on the go!

You can find us on the iTunes Store HERE

All reviews and feedback greatly appreciated; or if you have a question for the next episode drop a comment below or tweet me at @RobMcGregor35

The One Puck Short Podcast – Episode 3 and a Draft Lottery Special Online Now!

Episode 3 of the OPS podcast is online now and can be found HERE for your listening pleasure.

I also did a Draft Lottery Special, after Colorado ‘won’ the 1st overall pick at the 2013 draft – you can listen to that HERE

Just waiting for approval from Apple and the podcast should then be available on iTunes!

As always, any questions or comments hit me up on Twitter (@RobMcGregor35) or post a comment below!

Avalanche Season Postmortem

Less than 24 hours after Colorado closed out a disappointing 2012/13 season with a 3-1 loss to Minnesota, Joe Sacco was ‘relieved of duty’ as the teams Head Coach. This comes as little surprise to a fan base which may have taken its hardest ‘kicking’ since the franchise arrived in Denver.

From the painful saga of Ryan O’Reilly’s contract extension to a cavalcade of defensive woes, the Avs faithful has had little to cheer about over the past 48 games, prompting many to call for major changes both on and off the ice.

The One Puck Short Podcast – Episodes 1 and 2!

Last week I put out a test run for a One Puck Short Podcast.

This week, well, the interwebs was infected by the the first two ‘proper’ episodes of poddy casty goodness from One Puck Short

You can checkout episode 1 HERE and episode 2 HERE

Also working on getting on iTunes so you can download each episode automatically to your favourite fruit company based device.

As always, any questions, comments or feedback is most welcome.

Happy listening!

The ‘British Hockey is Broken’ Blog Post

One of the most common debates in British hockey reared its head again this week. Team GB’s relegation from Division 1A at the World Championships has sparked the conversation back in to life – why is British hockey failing?

Some will insist that it isn’t, even try and tell you that it is succeeding, but it isn’t. It’s fragile at best. Collapsing at worst.

Most people have an ideal, a solution, of what the British game should be. Some have much more short term aims, others span over a much greater period of time. Either way, the game needs a massive and complete overhaul.

This isn’t going to be some post that pretends I have all the answers; perhaps I have no answers. But the following are a few of the things I see as major and somewhat concerning issues within the British game today.