The Hockey Stop

Most hockey fans remember goalie Mike Richter leading the New York Rangers to the Stanley Cup in 1994.

It was the Blueshirts' first championship since 1940 and happened in a thrilling Game 7 victory at Madison Square Garden over the Vancouver Canucks by a score of 3-2 to send Gotham into a frenzy.

But not many know about the Hall of Fame netminder's off-ice heroics of late. Richter is committed to a much tougher task than stopping pucks -- he is speaking out about fighting climate change and his target is the tar sands of Canada.

The Abingdon, Pa., native and father of three sons recently teamed with the Sierra Club to advocate for a clean energy economy in America and he also wrote an op-ed against a proposed Canada-to-USA dirty oil pipeline that ran in newspapers in the United States and Canada.

In the op-ed he points out the inconvenient truth of the Athabasca Oil Sands and the devastation they cause the environment (including the threat of killing as many as 166 million migratory birds over the next five decades, one of which is seen below):

"The Canadian province of Alberta is home to a form of oil that is considered the dirtiest on earth. It's called the oil sands, and each barrel creates three times the global-warming pollution of conventional oil. That's a staggering amount of carbon," writes Richter.

And in his letter to Sierra Club supporters he says the following:

"I'm calling my senators because I want my three sons to benefit from a lifetime of winter sports, to graduate in a country that continues to be a world leader in industry and innovation, especially when it comes to clean energy, and to protect them from the reliance on foreign oil that threatens our national security."

But is it too late to stop the dirtiest oil on the planet from crossing the border into America? Perhaps. From Wikipedia:

"On August 20, 2009, the U.S. State Department issued a presidential permit for an Alberta Clipper Pipeline that will run from Hardisty, Alberta to Superior, Wisconsin. The pipeline will be capable of carrying up to 450,000 barrels of crude oil a day from the Athabasca Oil Sands to U.S. refineries."

I checked the State Department website and in the press release of the Alberta Clipper Pipeline permit it includes the strikingly contradictory statements that greenhouse gas emissions were taken into account and that the United States is committed to reducing carbon emissions and reducing dependence on oil.

Huh? Then why start pumping the filthiest fossil fuel on the planet into Wisconsin. Doesn't make sense. If this is the idea of addressing climate change than I agree with Richter and suggest scrapping this pipeline. But I'll let Richter speak for himself:

"We can't seriously combat global warming while getting fuel from the world's dirtiest source. If we allow Canada's oil sands project to creep across our border, it will lock our nation into dependence on yet another foreign source of oil, just as our local clean-energy industry is beginning to thrive.

Right now, we are poised to become a leader in the global clean-energy economy. By taking the steps to ensure that we are the leader of the next industrial revolution, we can reignite our economy, bolster national security and improve the health of our people.

One of the most important things we can do to demonstrate that leadership is to say no to Canada's oil sands. For now, the decision rests with the Obama administration. By denying permits for pipelines and refineries in the United States, President Obama can signal to the world that we are serious about fighting climate change and helping American clean-energy technologies thrive.

If he does, we just might be able to save the winter games we love -- and set a new course for the nation we cherish."

Thanks, Mike Richter, for doing what's right and taking a stand on this important issue. While he is busy as a founding partner in the private equity firm Environmental Capital Partners and was considering running for U.S. Congress under Connecticut's 4th congressional district in 2008, my hope is that Richter brings his message to Washington. President Obama and Congress need to hear from a hero like Richter.

1. NO GUNS IN HOCKEY



A hockey player would never store unloaded guns in his locker room and then lay them out Wild West style to intimidate a teammate over a gambling dispute like Washington Wizards player Gilbert Arenas did.

And a hockey player would absolutely under no circumstances dishonor the legacy of a beloved recently deceased owner such as Abe Pollin, who changed the name Bullets to Wizards because of gun violence.

And a hockey player would never bring guns to an arena like the Verizon Center in a city like Washington, D.C. where young black men have tragically been killing other young black men with guns at an alarming rate for way too long.

Sure, NHL players from places like Saskatoon participate in redneck activities like hunting Moose in the offseason, but their rifles are thankfully far from civilization.

2. HOCKEY PLAYERS ARE GREEN



NHL athletes get it when it comes to urgent environmental issues, as these two recent examples demonstrate.

Anaheim Ducks star Scott Niedermayer publicly announced his ownership of a Honda FCX Clarity Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle. He will drive this zero emissions vehicle from his home in southern Orange County to the Honda Center. From the Ducks blog on the Orange County Register website:

“It’s something that’s important to me - being responsible as far as how we treat the environment,” Niedermayer said. “It provides everything we need to survive here. We should show a little responsibility and turn back to the planet. I’ve always considered that. I grew up in a beautiful part of the world (Cranbrook, British Columbia) where you’re able to drink from the streams … It’s just a passion, something that I feel is important.”

Former Rangers goaltender Mike Richter and other NHL reps and environmental experts participated in a panel discussion at Fenway Park prior to the Winter Classic game titled "Sustainable Success: A Discussion on Business and the Environment."

The panel was moderated by New York Times columnist David Brooks and the main topic of conversation centered around how professional sports can help be a part of the solution to the climate crisis. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman made perhaps the most obvious but overlooked point:

"We as a League, well, we worry about the ice melting perhaps more than any other sport," said Bettman.

3. THE NHL WOULDN'T NIX 'HAWKS-BEARS PARTNERSHIP



A marketing deal between the Chicago Blackhawks and Bears sounds like a win-win right? Well, not according to the NFL.

The partnership would have included ads featuring players from both teams explaining their respective sports to each other. But those TV commercials will never air because the stooges at the NFL are citing an archaic rule to justify nixing the deal. From the Chicago Tribune:

"The NFL prohibits use of team marks and logos in connection with the promotion of other sports except by a three-quarters vote of the league's 32 clubs, according to NFL spokesman Greg Aiello."

This might be the dumbest rule in all of professional sports.

It would be in the NFL's best interest to allow the Bears to ride the coattails of the hottest team in Chitown, because it certainly isn't the playoff-missing Bears. The most coveted ticket in town right now is a seat at the United Center for a 'Hawks game.

Are you listening NFL?

Chicago's hockey team is better than its football team. Sort of like what is going on in our nation's capital with the Capitals and Redskins.

The NFL should reverse this rule so Patrick Kane can help sell some tickets to Soldier Field.

The sad story of professional sports pricing out the average fan is well documented.

ESPN.com recently ran an Outside the Lines feature story on the sparsely populated Legends Suite at the new Yankee Stadium. It turns out Wall Street hucksters aren't even willing to spend the $1,200 in this down economy to get so close to the field they can see the brand of sunflower seeds being spit out of Derek Jeter's mouth.

So it is with some NHL franchises. According to the New York Times' SlapShot blog , by the time a family of four buys tickets, parks and eats at Air Canada Center for a Toronto Maple Leafs game they will have spent a whopping $585.57. The Leafs raised their ticket prices by 10.2 percent followed by Pittsburgh at 8 percent and the Rangers at 7.1 percent.

This with the United States unemployment rate at a 26-year high of 9.8 percent and 7.2 million jobs lost since the recession began in Dec. 2007. The unemployment rate in Ontario is down slightly but still at 9.2%. And while Pittsburgh's unemployment is better than the national average at 7.8 percent, the state of Pennsylvania is at 8.6 percent. And the epicenter of the financial crisis -- New York City -- experienced a 10.3% unemployment rate in August mostly due to all the layoffs on Wall Street.

So how can the Leafs, Penguins and Rangers justify their ticket price increases? They can't. Thankfully those three franchises don't reflect the whole picture of NHL ticket prices. The cost of admission overall stayed level at an average of $51.41 for non-premium seats -- only 0.3 percent higher than last season.

Still, even with NHL ticket prices stabilizing this year, it is still too expensive for many fans who are financially suffering right now.

So what is a poor puckhead to do? The options for watching games on television and the internet either got a whole lot better this year or will improve soon.

DirecTV dropped Versus in September due to a carriage dispute and so far there has been no progress in adding the channel, but hopefully this will change soon. However, Dish Network added Versus for three months and possibly longer. To demand DirecTV add Versus immediately call 1-800-531-5000. To thank Dish Network for adding Versus and ask them to make the channel permanent, call 1-888-686-2388.

All of this would change of course if Comcast, which owns Versus, buys NBC Universal from General Electric. The cable giant is close to a deal with GE to merge with the TV and movie studio. And according to a report in the Wall Street Journal, Comcast is very interested in expanding their sports programming to compete with ESPN. A partnership with NBC would mean Versus would instantly up its game through NBC's NFL, NHL and Olympics coverage. Versus would no longer be seen as a niche channel but part of powerhouse NBC Sports. That means more hockey coverage and that also means Dish Network and DirecTV will be forced to carry Versus on basic cable. All great news for hockey fans.

But right now the best option for hockey fans on a budget is NHL GameCenter Live on NHL.com. The website really upped their game this year, providing a great deal for twenty bucks a month or a one-time payment of $160.

NHL GameCenter Live offers all the out-of-market games not nationally televised on Versus or NBC. The best thing about the subscription is how portable it is -- you can log on from any computer with internet access anywhere in the world to watch games.

New features include an adaptive video option which automatically controls the bitrate of the video quality depending on the connection speed to prevent buffering and choppiness.

Also, DVR functionality offers the opportunity to rewind and fast forward by 10 seconds at a time to see that amazing goal again if you missed it. After replaying the game you can switch to live mode at any time.

The picture-in-picture function places another game within the frame of the larger game and multiview allows up to four games to be watched simultaneously.

Archived games are also available to watch so if you miss the game live you can check back the next day and watch it.

But perhaps the best feature is that it is commercial-free. NHL GameCenter Live does its best to cut off advertisements before they start airing so it is only the action on the ice that you get to see.

Viewers are certainly catching on as orders for NHL GameCenter Live are up 70 percent compared to last year at this time.

Many NHL franchises and sports venues are getting on board the green bandwagon by taking steps to reduce their carbon footprint.

This trend encompasses all of professsional sports, as The New York Times noted in a recent article titled "Getting Sports Events to Go Green," which focused mostly on Major League Baseball's efforts to green the game. For example, the Boston Red Sox use solar panels to heat water at Fenway Park.

So what has hockey done to lessen waste and pollution when thousands of fans pack arenas across North America? One initiative is called NHL Green -- a partnership between the league and GreenLife with technical guidance from the Natural Resources Defense Council. The NHL will use this alliance to develop a league "Green Plan." But what are individual teams doing right now to reduce their carbon footprint?

Here are the greenest NHL arenas based on factors such as easy access to public transportation, energy efficiency, eco-friendly construction materials, recycling options and other environmentally friendly aspects.



Arena: Consol Energy Center
Team: Pittsburgh Penguins
City: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Neighborhood: Downtown
The Stanley Cup champs are moving into a shiny new venue after waddling in the decrepit Mellon Arena -- the oldest and lowest capacity arena in the NHL. And what an arena it will be! The Consol Energy Center will not only help the Penguins in Pittsburgh, but the real penguins in the rapidly melting polar ice caps. When the arena opens for the 2010-11 season it aims to be the first Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certified NHL arena. The Consol Energy Center will feature a gigantic glass atrium facing downtown that will bring in more natural light, lots of green space around the building, environmentally friendly paints, alternative energy sources and locally purchased construction materials. Plus easy access to public transportation allows fans to take the subway or bus to the game instead of driving.





Arena: General Motors Place
Team: Vancouver Canucks
City: Vancouver, Canada
Neighborhood: Downtown
Vancouver aims to be the greenest host city ever when the 21st Winter Olympic Games head to British Columbia in February, 2010. In June of 2006 the Vancouver Organizing Committee and the International Ice Hockey Federation announced that the hockey games would be played on NHL-sized rinks so there would be no environmental impact by expanding the ice size at GM Place (to be called Canada Hockey Place for the Olympics) and UBC Thunderbird Arena. GM Place is serviced by the SkyTrain "Stadium-Chinatown" station. SkyTrain is Vancouver's elevated rapid transit system.





Arena: Madison Square Garden
Team: New York Rangers
City: New York City, New York
Neighborhood: Chelsea
It's hard not to be green when garden is in your name and you are situated atop the busiest train station in North America -- Penn Station. Thus, "the world's most famous arena" makes the list for being so damn accessible without a car.





Arena: Pepsi Center
Team: Colorado Avalanche
City: Denver, Colorado
Neighborhood: Downtown
The Pepsi Center is not only retrofitting their building to make it more environmentally friendly, but also is taking the initiative to educate visitors about the importance of energy conservation. The arena teamed with Xcel Energy to launch a website with tips on how Colorado residents and businesses can save money and energy by going green. The Pepsi Center also features the Power Zone where kids and adults alike can play interactive trivia games, learn about wind and solar power, and more. The venue has also installed solar panels and designated hybrid-only parking spaces and a no-idling zone. The Pepsi Center is serviced by bus and Denver's light rail system. The closest station is Pepsi Center/Elitch Gardens on the C and E lines.





Arena: Philips Arena
Team: Atlanta Thrashers
City: Atlanta, Georgia
Neighborhood: Downtown
The 2008 Atlanta tornado outbreak caused minor exterior damage to the Philips Arena. Since then it has been only good news. The arena not only survived the tornado but is thriving -- Pollstar recently named Philips Arena the No. 1 U.S. venue for the first half of 2009 and earlier this year the arena became the first existing NBA or NHL arena to achieve LEED certification. The arena is also served by mass transit. The Philips Arena/CNN Center subway stop is an easy walk to the venue.





Arena: Staples Center
Team: Los Angeles Kings
City: Los Angeles, California
Neighborhood: Downtown
The Staples Center makes the list simply for trying to get car-centric Angelenos out of their leased luxury SUVs and onto the subway to see a game. The L.A. Metro recently released the above video advertisement to encourage fans to take the Blue Line light rail to the Staples Center. The Kings offer ticket discounts to metro riders and the venue provides secure bike racks. Other green initiatives include a dynamic recycling program, low-energy lighting, green cleaning chemicals, waterfree urinals and 1,727 solar panels installed on its rooftop.





Arena: TD Garden
Team: Boston Bruins
City: Boston, Massachusetts
Neighborhood: Downtown North section
The future just got brighter for Boston and the planet because TD Garden recently installed an energy-saving LED lighting system that will light up the arena's exterior at night. According to the website GreenSportsVenues.com: "The project provides a 60% decrease in kilowatt consumption over the previous equipment." The lighting system also automatically shuts off at 2 a.m. to save energy. The lighting changes colors depending on the team playing, so for example when the Bruins hit the ice the color will be yellow. And to celebrate a victory the lights can even do the wave with special effects.





Arena: Verizon Center
Team: Washington Capitals
City: Washington, D.C.
Neighborhood: Gallery Place/Chinatown
The "Phone Booth" has turned Gallery Place/Chinatown into the hottest neighborhood in the nation's capital while doing its part to cool down the planet. When former Caps owner Abe Pollin decided to replace the U.S. Air Arena in Landover, Maryland he significantly reduced the carbon footprint by locating the new arena above the Gallery Place/Chinatown Metro Station -- making the arena easily accessible via subway for fans in the Virginia and Maryland suburbs. The Verizon Center was also the first indoor venue to install a high-definition LED scoreboard. Light-emitting diodes are significantly more energy efficient than traditional incandescent bulbs.

Honorable Mentions:

Honda Center -- Anaheim Ducks
Large recycling program and locally grown produce used in restaurant.

Air Canada Centre -- Toronto Maple Leafs
Located next to Union Station so easy access to public transit.

Bell Centre -- Montreal Canadians
Located in the heart of downtown, the arena provides easy access to public transit.

Xcel Energy Center -- Minnesota Wild
Recycling program, green cleaning products, low-energy lighting, low-flow water in restrooms, bike racks and bus vouchers for employees, education zone display with info on renewable and alternative energy.

Prudential Center -- New Jersey Devils
The newest arena in the NHL is also one of the most accessible via public transit -- the facility is located two blocks from Newark Penn Station.

Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin nabbed two ESPY Awards nominations for Best Play and Best NHL Player. The nominations come as no surprise to hockey fans who have watched the Russian contortionist-on-ice score goals that would make even the The Flying Karamazov Brothers drop whatever they were juggling to drop their jaws.

However, some discerning fans might take issue with the play chosen. Ovechkin's goal against the Rangers was no doubt amazing -- he turned three New York defenders into human practice cones as he stick-handled around the helpless Blueshirts en-route to stuffing it past a stunned Henrik Lundqvist and into the back of the net. That the goal took place in the playoffs makes it even more special.

But in my mind Ovechkin's regular season goal against Montreal was even more spectacular and should have been chosen as the Best Play. While the Habs were moving the puck out of their zone and into the neutral zone, Ovechkin took advantage of a quick line change, raced across the ice, bounced the puck off the boards to himself, charged towards the Montreal net while being chased and eventually pulled down by a late-arriving defender, then while sliding on the side of his back he somehow kept control of the puck and somehow found an opening to shoot the puck past the goalie.

Here are the two plays. You decide:

Nominated goal against Rangers:



Montreal goal:



The ESPY Awards will be broadcast Sunday, July 19 at 9 p.m. EST (6 p.m. PST) on ESPN. The winners are determined by fan vote. To cast your ballot go to ESPYS.tv.

ESPN.com is reporting a source told senior writer E.J. Hradek that the Philadelphia Flyers will play the Boston Bruins in Fenway Park on New Year's Day as part of the third NHL Winter Classic.

There was speculation that the Washington Capitals would play the Bruins but apparently the NHL wants the Caps to play the New York Rangers at the new Yankee Stadium on New Year's Day 2011.

The popular outdoor event is likely being expanded into a doubleheader on Jan. 1 with the Flyers-Bruins being followed by the Leafs-Flames at McMahon Stadium in Calgary.

The inaugural Winter Classic in 2008 was played at Ralph Wilson Stadium in Buffalo and set an NHL attendance record of 71,217. Hockey fans braved the biting Upstate New York winter weather to watch the Pittsburgh Penguins defeat the Buffalo Sabres 2-1 on a shootout goal by Sidney Crosby.

The second Winter Classic took place at Chicago's Wrigley Field (pictured above) and pitted the Chicago Blackhawks against the Detroit Red Wings. The Wings won the game 6-4.

The Winter Classic has grown into a great showcase for the sport and draws in casual viewers who don't normally tune into hockey games as the solid TV ratings prove.

Beantown is sure to be buzzing just as Wrigleyville was for the event. However, a Washington-New York matchup in 2011 at the new Yankee Stadium featuring Alex Ovechkin and the bright lights of the Big Apple would be hard to beat in terms of generating excitement.