The Hockey Stop

Hoquei sobre gel means ice hockey in Catalan. I recently visited the hockey hotbed of Barcelona in northeastern Spain and was surprised to see that the most popular football club in the world (that would be FC Barcelona and their fearless leader Lionel Messi) does not just dominate the game of soccer like no other club in history, but that other sports -- from basketball to hockey -- have teams bearing the FCB crest as well.

A trip to Camp Nou this summer, the storied home field of Barca since 1957, revealed a sporting empire. Next door to the nearly 100,000 seat stadium, the largest in Europe, sits Palau Blaugrana, an indoor arena that is home to the FC Barcelona basketball, handball, roller hockey and futsal (indoor soccer) teams. They all wear Barca's famous blue and red uniforms.

But it was the Pista de Gel (Ice Rink in Catalan) that was the most interesting, simply because Barcelona seems like one of the unlikeliest places for professional ice hockey to flourish. But there it is. Since 1972 the FC Barcelona ice hockey team has been playing its home games at Pista de Gel in the shadow of Camp Nou. They play in the Spanish league and the roster is made up of mostly Spanish players. They have won five Spanish League championships, four Spanish ice hockey cups and most recently were the European champions in 2009-2010.

Compared to the renovated basketball arena and soccer stadium and the bustling FC Barcelona team mega store, the ice rink is a bit run down with a very small seating capacity. But the mere fact that there actually is an ice hockey team with the name FC Barcelona and that they have been in operation for nearly forty years, is simply amazing.

Mes que un club. More than a club. That is Barca's motto. It generally refers to the football team as a symbol for Catalan culture and the independence movement of Catalonia. But it could also apply to all the other sports teams under the FC Barcelona banner.

Here are more photos from Camp Nou and Pista de Gel.

Forget football. Spring is the best season for sports fans. We just wrapped up the most exciting March Madness in recent memory (thanks VCU and Butler) and now we have the NHL and NBA playoffs to look forward to. Plus, MLB baseball and MLS soccer have started up.

So, while the NFL heads to court tomorrow, there are so many reminders of how blessed we are as Americans to be able to enjoy so many other professional sports that aren't currently going through a labor dispute. Here in Washington, the city is buzzing about the Capitals' chance at playoff redemption. In Baltimore they are going batty over the undefeated Orioles. In Denver they love their defending MLS champion Colorado Rapids. And in Los Angeles they are dreaming of another NBA championship for their Lakers.

The trees are blooming. The weather is warmer. The grass is greener. And we have hockey, basketball, baseball and soccer all at the same time. Sorry, football, but we are moving on.

The Mayo Clinic Sports Medicine Center held a summit in Rochester, Minnesota this week titled "Ice Hockey Summit: Action on Concussion." The event was bound to garner media attention given the recent crackdown by both the NFL and NHL on hits to the head after a slew of incredibly violent incidents.

The general conclusion? Helmets aren't the answer. The league must ban all hits to the head. Period.

So the bottom line in hockey and football seems to be that if they are really serious about eliminating serious brain injuries then everyone from the parents to the players to the referees to the executives to the fans must relearn what is considered a proper part of the body to make physical contact with. And just as a player would never think of whacking an opponent in the groin area, with new tough rules in place never again will we have to see a player carted off the ice or the football field on a stretcher because of a hit to the head.

Here is an excellent video report on head shots in hockey from a local Vancouver news station.

This past Super Bowl weekend was simply awesome for fans of hockey and football, and specifically followers of the Los Angeles Kings, Washington Capitals and New Orleans Saints.

Most of the Monday morning water-cooler discussions rightfully centered on the Saints' feel-good victory over the Indianapolis Colts in Miami. New Orleans' win was the tonic this nation needed to have something to feel good about in the midst of a seemingly endless jobs drought and divisive rhetoric about, well, almost every issue being debated in Washington. Plus the still raw memories of Hurricane Katrina's devastation.

This nation and the city of New Orleans needed a Saints victory and we got it. So thanks to Drew Brees and company for a hell of a performance last Sunday. You gave the whole country (outside of Indianapolis) something to celebrate and come together over and that is special.

If the Saints had won the Super Bowl and nothing else happened that would have been enough. But two of perhaps the most exciting hockey games of the year took place in rainy Los Angeles and snowy Washington, D.C. and what a treat they were!

First on Saturday afternoon at Staples Center I was lucky enough to nab two $100 seats for $20 each from my co-worker to the game. So my friend and I hopped on the subway and headed downtown to the arena where we took our seats seven rows up and one section to the right of the visitors bench. I was so close I could almost hear backup goalie Chris Osgood talking shop with Todd Bertuzzi, Henrik Zetterberg, Nicklas Lidstrom and the rest of the Detroit Red Wings teammates.

The many Detroiters in attendance had a lot to cheer about in the first period as the Wings built up a seemingly impenetrable 3-0 lead going into the intermission. But then the Kings came alive and scored four unanswered goals in the final two periods to win 4-3 on a shot by Michael Handzus past Jimmy Howard to send the purple-and-black-clad fans into a frenzy.

The win was L.A.'s ninth straight, which set a franchise record for consecutive wins. As I waited for the Blue Line train at the Pico station with the celebratory Kings fans, I couldn't wait for NBC's national telecast of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals in D.C.

Because of the record snowfall in D.C. the game was somewhat in doubt. The Pens had lost in Montreal 5-3 the day before and since the D.C. area airports were closed they had to fly to Newark and take a bus down to Washington. They even stopped at a rest stop in Maryland to pick up some Burger King (I won't say it was the fast food that caused the Penguins to lose because the meat industry might sue me).

Like the Kings, the Caps had to overcome a three goal deficit to extend their winning streak to a mind-boggling 14 games -- only three short of tying Pittsburgh's 17-game streak set in 1993. The Caps were down 4-1 before Eric Fehr cut the lead to one and then two goals by Alex Ovechkin for a hat trick tied the game before a near capacity crowd ready to let loose after the Great Blizzard of 2010. Caps fans were rocking the red at the VC no matter what the conditions were. They probably would have sledded across the Arlington Memorial Bridge, along the National Mall and up 7th Street to get to the game if that was the only form of transportation.

And the Caps provided these loyal, courageous fans with a thrilling finish. With everyone in Capitals Nation still feeling the bitter sting of the 7th game playoff loss to the Pens last year, the Caps turned the table for at least one day by beating the Pens 5-4 in overtime off a Mike Knuble tip-in past Marc-Andre Fleury to send the red-clad crowd into the snow happy (and this Caps fan doing cartwheels in his apartment in Los Angeles).

What a weekend!

Other notable news from around the rink:

Maple Leafs GM Brian Burke's son dies

The hockey world is in mourning over the tragic loss of Toronto Maple Leafs GM Brian Burke's son Brendan at the age of 21. Burke, the student manager of Miami University's NCAA hockey team in Oxford, Ohio, died along with a friend at the scene of a two-vehicle collision during heavy snow in Wayne County, Indiana at around 2:50 p.m. Friday. Brendan was driving back from Michigan State in East Lansing because he was interested in attending the law school there.

Burke's youngest son made headlines last November when his father revealed to the media that his son was gay.

"I think it's important my story is told to people because there are a lot of gay athletes out there and gay people working in pro sports that deserve to know there are safe environments where people are supportive regardless of your sexual orientation," Burke said.

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said in a news release that Brendan was "a young man of courage and character. Words simply cannot express our sorrow over his loss."

New owner for Lightning

Boston Red Sox minority owner Jeff Vinik has agreed to buy the Tampa Bay Lightning pending approval from the league's Board of Governors. The St. Petersburg Times writes about how GM Brian Lawton will be on the hot seat as he tries to impress his new boss.

Caps-Pens TV ratings

NBC's broadcast of the Caps-Pens last Super Bowl Sunday scored a 1.3 overnight rating, which tied the season high of the Pens-Flyers telecast of two weeks ago. It was also the best ever rating for a Pittsburgh-Washington game.

Caps embrace social media

The Washington Post's Gene Wang has a story on the Caps and owner Ted Leonsis' embrace of social media websites such as Facebook and Twitter to promote the team. Here is an excerpt courtesy of Kukla's Korner Hockey Blog:

"The Washington Capitals in recent years have moved more aggressively than any other NHL team toward embracing social media Web sites such as Twitter and Facebook, targeting supporters who get their information from non-traditional outlets.

Now, with the team in the midst of a franchise-record winning streak led by one of the world’s most dynamic hockey players in Alex Ovechkin, owner Ted Leonsis is hoping the social media strategy will pay off in expanding the club’s popularity and engagement with fans.

“The team blew up, and the team got great with really young kids who were very identifiable by the same generation that used that technology,” Leonsis said last week from his office at Kettler Capitals Iceplex. “So the co-mingling of this understanding of social media and technology and the team doing great, and the city wanting a winner, has really made this a very magical time for the franchise.”

It turns out hosting a hate-filled talk radio show can be costly.

Under pressure from the NFL and the public, the group making a bid to buy the St. Louis Rams has dropped Rush Limbaugh as a partner.

St. Louis Blues owner Dave Checketts, who is heading the group, said this in a statement:

"It has become clear that his involvement in our group has become a complication and a distraction to our intentions; endangering our bid to keep the team in St. Louis. As such, we have decided to move forward without him and hope it will eventually lead us to a successful conclusion."

This is a win for common sense and decency. Kudos go to Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay who opposed Limbaugh's inclusion.

The divisive rhetoric Limbaugh spews daily to listeners across the country has no place in the National Football League or anywhere else for that matter.

Hopefully this will marginalize Limbaugh even more than he already is.