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2023-24 NHL Misc. Thread

NoMich said:
Wait! Hold on! Mike Babcock is a terrible human being? Bummer for the Blue Jackets that this revelation is just now coming out after they hired him. Hoo boy! I mean, there is no way in hell they would've hired him if his reputation had been known for a while now.
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Both Babcock and Boone Jenner deny it. Babcock essentially calls Biz a liar and Jenner says it was a great meeting and good way to start to build a relationship.

www.nhl.com

Columbus Blue Jackets statements | Columbus Blue Jackets

Columbus Blue Jackets Head Coach Mike Babcock and center Boone Jenner released the following statements regarding comments made earlier today on a hockey podcast. MIKE BABCOCK “While meeting with our players and staff I asked them to share, off their phones, family pictures as part of the...
www.nhl.com www.nhl.com
 
andyt said:
Both Babcock and Boone Jenner deny it. Babcock essentially calls Biz a liar and Jenner says it was a great meeting and good way to start to build a relationship.

www.nhl.com

Columbus Blue Jackets statements | Columbus Blue Jackets

Columbus Blue Jackets Head Coach Mike Babcock and center Boone Jenner released the following statements regarding comments made earlier today on a hockey podcast. MIKE BABCOCK “While meeting with our players and staff I asked them to share, off their phones, family pictures as part of the...
www.nhl.com www.nhl.com
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Look ... Biz is probably inflating the peril for entertainment value, and has a history of doing such things. So, yeah. The point remains though, Babcock is a figure of known menace to players and inflated or not, that story is 100% within a reasonable stretch of imagination. So, yeah Babs. Everybody assumes you're a tool bag because you've proven that with your own past actions. You don't get to be morally outraged at this point. That bank account is overdrawn.
 
potato, potato.

but yeah, Biz and Babs are both bad at their jobs. (edited to add) - not really, Biz's job is to get people to tune in, he's probably doing that fine. Bab's job is to win cups and he's not doing that recently, or anytime soon.
 
Are people tuning in to see Biz, though ... really? Does anybody have any proof of that? Because I'm not buying it on face value. That empty headed dipstick is absolutely out of his league on the national broadcast and comes off sounding like an unfocused, annoying loudmouth cousin at Thanksgiving dinner most of the time. I understand that his podcast schtick is geared to a different audience (one I'd just as soon avoid in daily life), but I refuse to believe he adds a single thing to the national broadcasts.
 
jeffbear said:
Are people tuning in to see Biz, though ... really? Does anybody have any proof of that? Because I'm not buying it on face value. That empty headed dipstick is absolutely out of his league on the national broadcast and comes off sounding like an unfocused, annoying loudmouth cousin at Thanksgiving dinner most of the time. I understand that his podcast schtick is geared to a different audience (one I'd just as soon avoid in daily life), but I refuse to believe he adds a single thing to the national broadcasts.
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IMO, postseason Biz was better than regular season Biz. But that’s a pretty low bar to clear, he was execrable in the regular season. And with Lundqvist sitting on the other end of the panel? Biz should have just hidden under the desk.
 
andyt said:
IMO, postseason Biz was better than regular season Biz. But that’s a pretty low bar to clear, he was execrable in the regular season. And with Lundqvist sitting on the other end of the panel? Biz should have just hidden under the desk.
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Can't say I watched a single second of the regular season panel stuff. I avoid that crap like the plague, but during the playoffs you're kinda stuck with it. So I'm actually dissing his "best work" ... which is its own kind of hilarious.
 
I mean, he's there to fill the Charles Barkley role as Turner tries to replicate the successful (I hear) format of their NBA coverage.... problem is, for the most part, people like Barkley. He's a lovable clown, who was a pretty dang good player in his sport, so his clowning comes with credibility. Biz is just Biz.... I guess he's really popular with one particular crowd (and tbf, the podcast does pretty well), but I dunno if it plays to a national TV crowd. I'd vote him off that island, regular season or playoffs. They do need someone with personality though, no secret that hockey players can be a bit dry in general.

Aside: Is there an intermission/pregame/etc... panel in any sport as good as the Prem coverage on NBC/USA/Peacock? I didn't think so.
 
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The one thing I will say about Babcock, you would have hoped that his timeout and long pause from NHL coaching would have given him time to reassess his coaching style and practices...most people would be smart enough to realize that his antics were going to be even more under the microscope, so clean things up and be smart enough to realize that you have a target on your back...this is no longer a Mike Keenan style coaching league any longer.
 
CanadaCanes said:
The one thing I will say about Babcock, you would have hoped that his timeout and long pause from NHL coaching would have given him time to reassess his coaching style and practices...most people would be smart enough to realize that his antics were going to be even more under the microscope, so clean things up and be smart enough to realize that you have a target on your back...this is no longer a Mike Keenan style coaching league any longer.
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Instead he used the time figuring out how to use his iPhone. Congrats on that, gramps.
 
StormChaserBH said:
Aside: Is there an intermission/pregame/etc... panel in any sport as good as the Prem coverage on NBC/USA/Peacock? I didn't think so.
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Not even vaguely close, honestly. To the point where they should strap the people responsible for the other presentations to chairs and make them watch Rebecca, Timmy and the two Robbies on repeat until they get the point. You don't have to be gimmicky and showy if you do the job well. You need a decent video squad, a compelling product and a couple of relatable human beings capable of intelligently and engagingly discussing the game.
 
jeffbear said:
Not even vaguely close, honestly. To the point where they should strap the people responsible for the other presentations to chairs and make them watch Rebecca, Timmy and the two Robbies on repeat until they get the point. You don't have to be gimmicky and showy if you do the job well. You need a decent video squad, a compelling product and a couple of relatable human beings capable of intelligently and engagingly discussing the game.
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And IMO it’s 90% Rebecca Lowe. The show isn’t the same when she’s not there.

The only other show that any of the sports TV writers put in the same league is the TNT NBA show with Ernie Johnson, Barkley, Shaq, etc.
 
andyt said:
And IMO it’s 90% Rebecca Lowe. The show isn’t the same when she’s not there.

The only other show that any of the sports TV writers put in the same league is the TNT NBA show with Ernie Johnson, Barkley, Shaq, etc.
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And to be honest, I find that one unwatchable as well, and it's mostly down to Earnie Johnson. I've never liked that guy. The host IS super important, but I would also so that NBC's soccer desk is vastly helped by having three knowledgable, level headed and reasonably articulate experts. Because there's plenty of meathead former soccer players ruining similar shows around the globe ... Alexi Lalas, Thierry Henry, Roy Kent ... I mean Keane, Micah Richards (the soccer version of PK Subban), etc.
 
The NHL might have to find a new official hydration partner. BioSteel filed for bankruptcy protection and will lay off 181 of their 190 employees. BioSteel was founded in 2009 by a Toronto entrepreneur and then current NHL player Mike Cammalleri. They were acquired by Canopy Growth in 2019 and the bankruptcy came because Canopy decided to stop funding operations. Canopy’s main business is cannibis but BioSteel was burning cash, accounting for 60% of Canopy’s first quarter losses.

sports.yahoo.com

BioSteel Files for Bankruptcy Protection, Will Lay Off 181 Employees

BioSteel Sports Nutrition has filed for creditor protection under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA). The company will now undergo a court-supervised sale process for its business and assets. “BioSteel made the decision to conserve cash and put the business into hibernation to...
sports.yahoo.com sports.yahoo.com
 
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