Some Reads

Nassau Coliseum: Going to the Best of the Worst

We Went There: The Islanders Come Home
www.grantland.com

The Islanders are moving because the Coliseum lacks amenities — right? Well, I go to a lot of stadiums, and I always sit in the stands, and I have yet to use an amenity. Here is an amenity of the Nassau Coliseum: It has no upper deck. Even in Section 324, on the blue line, you can see the whole ice and not feel you’re staring down from the top of the Chrysler Building. Season tickets in that section cost $40 a seat per game, and if you buy two, a third can be had for half price. This confirms my long-held belief that the “worst” stadiums in America are often the best, and the “best” are defined as the ones where you can buy sushi.

Shawn Thornton: Fight Not a Message

Thornton: Fight a 'heat of battle' sitation
www.csnne.com

“[It was just a] heat of the battle thing,” said Thornton. “Those things happen in hockey. I wasn’t even aware how much was left on the clock.”

When pressed further, Thornton said it had nothing to do with sending a message or in response to any frustration.

“It’s part of the game. Obviously part of the game I’m supposed to do. No overthinking it, it just happened.”

Will Colton Orr and Frazer McLaren Play During the Playoffs?

Ready to rumble: Maple Leafs tough guys wonder about playoff role
www.nhl.com

The Toronto Maple Leafs led the league in fighting majors this season, often dropping the gloves early in a game to set the tone.

If not Murderers Row, Colton Orr (13 fights according to hockeyfights.com) Frazer McLaren (12) and Mark Fraser (9) can definitely leave a mark.

While Fraser pulls down a regular shift on the blue-line, forwards Orr and McLaren see more selective action. How much that will be in the playoffs remains to be seen.

Randy Carlyle refused to commit to any lineup strategies, but if last game, the first game both players sat out, is any indicator, at least one player is needed for chemistry. The Leafs looked disjointed and sloppy with a new mix of lines.

Today's lineup is currently unknown.

Derek Boogaard Film to Be Made

Focus Features, Peter Berg Plan Film On Hockey Enforcer Derek Boogaard; Died At 28
www.deadline.com

Focus has made a deal with The New York Times for an eye-opening series of articles by John Branch entitled Punched Out: The Life And Death Of A Hockey Enforcer. Berg and Film 44 partner Sarah Aubrey are producing, and Berg hopes to direct. Ryan Condal is writing the script, and Josh McLoughlin will oversee the pic. The deal was made by ICM Partners, which reps the Times, and also reps Boogard’s estate and his mother and father, Len and Joanne Boogaard. All of the money they make will go to a charity set up for their son.

Looking Back at Youngblood

How Rob Lowe Almost Killed Hockey Forever
www.thrillist.com

As an ‘80s kid, you only knew two hockey movies: Slap Shot, and Youngblood. But Slap Shot didn’t belong to you. It was a 1970s movie starring a 1960s actor, and while its Cinema’s Greatest Decade brand of enlightened buffoonery unarguably made it the better of the two by a Big Country Bryant Reeves mile, you don’t get to choose what films your generation gets to claim as its own. Part of the reason I’m completely baffled by hockey is that Dallas didn’t get an NHL team until 1993. The rest, I blame on Gen-X’s hockey movie being Youngblood.

Boston Fans Take Over Emotional National Anthem

National Anthem in Boston
video.nhl.com

Bruins fans throughout TD Garden sing the American National Anthem.

Krys Barch Has No Regrets About Lockout Tweets

Devils’ Krys Barch stands by Twitter outburst about lockout
sports.nationalpost.com

“A lot of texts from guys I played with saying, ‘Way to speak up,’ you know?” Barch said on Monday. “Even though it might have been infused by a couple of beverages.”

Any regrets?

“With what I wrote? No, not at all,” he said. “I think I wrote it with my heart. But maybe for the little kids out there … with the alcohol perspective … maybe I didn’t need to include that.”

Maple Leafs Won’t Change Style in the Postseason

Maple Leafs fighting their way into playoffs
www.windsorstar.com

“It’s not a trademark of us to go out and fight,” Leafs coach Randy Carlyle said. “Our trademark is, we want to be a physical hockey club. We want to be a strong forechecking hockey club. And if that leads to physical, one-on-one confrontation, then that’s the way we deal with it.”

Leafs host New Jersey Devils tonight (7 p.m., Leafs TV).

And he suggested, as the team closes in on its first playoff berth since 2004, that attitude would not change once the post-season begins. The record of his previous NHL team, the Anaheim Ducks, might offer a window into that approach.

Rapid Fire Q&A With Jared Boll

Word Up! with Columbus Blue Jackets Winger Jared Boll
www.youtube.com

Gross Misconduct with Jared Boll. Sports writer Ian Walker’s rapid-fire Q & A with the Columbus Blue Jackets Winger.

Some Players Can Lose Money Playing in Nashville

Inaction on 'jock tax' could spur lawsuits, NHL union says
www.bizjournals.com

The athlete’s privilege tax applies to NBA or NHL players, at a rate of $2,500 per game with a cap of $7,500 in a year. The tax is applied to players for the Memphis Grizzlies, Nashville Predators and their visiting opponents. The tax, enacted in 2009, is distributed to arena owners and has generated about $2.2 million in Nashville and $1.1 million in Memphis.

The tax penalizes those players at or near their league’s minimum salary, causing them to at times lose money by playing a game in Tennessee, Fehr said.