This is one of those WOW kind of articles that I wanted to pass along. After taking the Blackhawks to the playoffs and putting so much into the team, this move is unbelievable to me. Tallon deserves better..

CHICAGO (AP) - The Chicago Blackhawks abruptly ousted general manager Dale Tallon on Tuesday, less than two months after the team he helped revive from the bottom of the standings reached the Western Conference finals.

Tallon, who was reassigned to senior adviser of hockey operations, was replaced by assistant GM Stan Bowman, the son of legendary NHL coach Scotty Bowman. The elder Bowman who was hired last year as a senior adviser.

A clerical mistake may have hastened Tallon’s departure. Last week, the NHL Players Association filed a grievance against the team, saying the Blackhawks missed the deadline for sending qualifying offers to restricted free agents. The Blackhawks ended up signing all their restricted free agents, including their top rookie from last season, Kris Versteeg.

Tallon denied that the administrative problem and grievance had caused the Blackhawks to overpay the restricted free agents.

Tallon, 58, has been a member of the organization for more 30 years, including five as a player and 10 in the front office. He was named general manager in June 2005 and under his guidance, the team drafted young stars Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews, made trades for scorers like Martin Havlat and Patrick Sharp, and signed free agents Nikolai Khabibulin, Brian Campbell and Cristobal Huet.

Last season, the Blackhawks started drawing fans back to the United Center and advanced to the playoffs for the first time in seven years, losing to the Detroit Red Wings in the conference finals.

Earlier this month, the Blackhawks signed free agent Marian Hossa from Detroit to a 12-year, $62.8 million deal. Havlat, the team’s leading scorer last season, was let go and he was signed by Minnesota.

“I have been with this organization in several different capacities since coming over as a player in 1973 and although my position has changed, my goals have not,” Tallon said in a statement released by the team. “I’ve seen Stan come up through our ranks and I’m confident he is the right person to step in. This is what is best for the Chicago Blackhawks.”

Bowman, 36, has been with the team for nine years, including two seasons as the director of hockey operations and four seasons as an assistant to the GM.

“We will not rest until we reach our goal of winning the Stanley Cup and establishing consistent success,” he said.

article found on http://msn.foxsportnews.com

In this series, Bob Morris poses a key question and then responds to it with material from one or more of the business books he has reviewed for Amazon and Borders.

One man’s opinion, all great CEOs and all great coaches:

• Love to win but hate to lose, especially because of “dumb” mistakes or insufficient effort.

Note: John Wooden offers a stunning exception, however, with regard to use of the terms “win” and “lose.” He never mentioned them! Nonetheless, his 26 UCLA basketball teams had a record of 620-147 and won 10 NCAA championships in 12 years.

• Earn and sustain the trust and respect of their opponents as well of those for whom they were directly responsible.

• Hold themselves as well as everyone else accountable to very high standards.

• Nail the fundamentals but also find innovative ways to succeed.

Note: When commenting on Alabama football coach Paul (“Bear”) Bryant’s determination and ingenuity, fellow coach “Bum” Phillips observed, “He can take his’n and beat your’n and take your’n and beat his’n.”

• They surround themselves with the most talented people, delegate substantial authority as well as responsibility to them, and are genuinely thrilled when any of them becomes a CEO or head coach elsewhere.

Also one man’s opinion, the ten greatest coaches I have observed include Bryant and Wooden joined (in alphabetical order) by Arnold (“Red”) Auerbach, Scotty Bowman, Mike Krzyzewski, Vince Lombardi, Joe Paterno, Dean Smith, Pat Summitt, and Bill Walsh. In a sense, each was also the CEO of an immensely successful organization. And in today’s business world, the most effective CEOs all devote a great deal of their time and energy to coaching and mentoring high-potential associates.

Comments, questions, requests, or suggestions? Please share them. They will be most welcome and I thank you for them. Best regards, Bob

Paul M. Banks a.k.a. The Sports Bank, NBC Chicago Street Team

Heading into 2008-09, the season of Chicago Blackhawks renaissance, it was thought in certain circles that Hawks General Manager Dale Tallon could be on the way out. Tallon was more Bill Wirtz’s guy than he was Rocky Wirtz’s guy. After NHL coaching legend Scotty Bowman joined the Hawks organization (pronounced “organ-I-zation” in Canadian English) as Senior Advisor of Hockey Operations, rumors swirled that Tallon might be replaced by Bowman’s son, assistant GM of Hockey Operations, Stan Bowman.
Today however, Tallon is sitting pretty as the blueprint for success he drafted has guided the Hawks much further along the postseason path than anyone expected. After advancing to their first Conference Final since 1995, (where they’re currently down 2-1 to the Red Wings), Tallon spoke about his team, the youngest in the league, climbing the ladder much faster than expected

“The sooner the better is fine with me. I don’t want to wait any longer, it’s been fun and I’m proud of these kids, this is the greatest group of kids I’ve been around; on and off the ice,” Tallon said.

Tallon’s first season as GM was tumultuous. After the 2004–05 NHL season was canceled due to labor issues, a new collective bargaining agreement was signed. This created a new financial structure and many rule changes intended to yield higher scoring games. In response, Tallon reshaped the team, but most of his free agents never panned out and the Hawks finished 14th in the 15-team Western Conference.

However, since then he turned the Blackhawk franchise around (the Hawks are the only team in the NHL to improve their win total each of the past four years) by drafting young talents Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane and also acquiring stars Patrick Sharp and Kris Versteeg. Tallon recently spoke about the traits possessed by his young nucleus. “Their impeccable character- they’re beyond their years as far as composure and intelligence…they’re way ahead of their time as far the mental aspect of it, their maturity impresses me,” Tallon said before later commenting on his team’s versatility:

“This is a team that can play any style, it you want to play it tough, we’ll play it tough, if you want to play speed, up-tempo, we’ll do that too. I think people underestimate how strong and resilient these kids are.” Chicago’s deep playoff run has been great for hockey ratings on television, and the NHL could certainly use this boost. Perhaps the Blackhawks’ rebirth, led in part by the young stars Dale Tallon drafted, will help improve the league’s damaged Q rating. Tallon spoke about the plethora of current young NHL stars.

“As hockey fans we’re in a great era right now. You see Crosby perform and Ovechkin and Malkin, and you see Backstrom in Washington and everyday we get to see Kane and Toews and don’t forget we’ve got some other young guys in Bolland, Brouwer, and Byfuglien, you can go down the list…we’re very fortunate in this era to be able to witness such young players excel at such a young age,” Tallon stated.

See more of Paul M. Banks’ work at the Washington Times, Walter Football.com and The Sports Bank

Hockeytown vs. Hawkeytown?

-Alaina Scarano-Isbouts

• 1926-49: This is apparently what was called “The Early Years.”  The Wings were founded in 1921 and didn’t waste much time — making a Stanley Cup playoff appearance in 1929.
• 1950-66: Apparently this is “The Gordie Howe Era.” Obviously named because this was when Goride Howe peaked.  He started with the NHL (and the Wings) in 1946 and carried his team to the playoffs a few times.  But the Wings didn’t return to greatness until 1950, then reaching the finals nine different times between these 16 years and winning it four times.
• 1967-82: And here we have the “Dead Wings Era.” By the way I got all of these clever names from Wikipedia.  While I, and many others like me, still refer to them as the Dead Wings, apparently this term actually refers to a distinct era where the Wings, for lack of a better term, sucked.  During this time period, there were 14 different head coaches.  It was during this era in which poor old Howe retired.
• 1983-03: These are the Wings that I’ve known, “The Yzerman Era.”  1983 is when the Wings drafted youngster Steve Yzerman 1st overall, who later became captain and will of course be inducted into the Hall of Fame now that he is retired.  Yzerman retired in 2006.
• 1994-04: This overlaps with the “Yzerman Era,” but this is loosely labeled as “The Russian Five and The Return to Glory.”  This was the era in which the Wings and Avalanche rivalry began; when Scotty Bowman became one of the most loved/hated men in the NHL; and when the Wings started to scare me.

Now, the Wings are in a new era.  With Mike Babcock heading the team and the Wings winning the Cup last season, all seems to be in place for a continuing run in the “New Era” for the Wings.  Right?

Wrong.

Here’s the problem: in case you haven’t heard, there’s a bit of a recession going on.  And, also in the news, there seems to have been some trouble in the auto industry.  Unfortunately, this affects Detroit.  A lot.  Detroit had the honor of being named “America’s Most Miserable City” by Forbes Magazine in 2008.  With the second highest unemployment rate among the top 150 metropolitan cities in the country, the highest rate of violent crimes, and having been hit even harder in the past year by the automotive bankruptcies, it’s no small miracle the Joe isn’t selling out anymore.

Now I’m not trying to write this piece to make fun of Detroit and its economic situation.  But I am trying to call attention to what I believe could be the start of a significant shift in the Detroit Red Wings era.

Perhaps the most valuable thing in the entire city of Detroit is the Red Wings.  As 2008’s #4 most valuable team in the NHL, the Wings are valued at $303 million.  This is largely due to the fact that the Wings are remarkable at winning without a large payroll; their ability to draft talent and keep it within their system is enviable across the entire league.  But with certain big-name core players coming up on retirement (Nicklas Lidstrom is nearly 40 and Chris Chelios is 108), soon the torch will be passed entirely over to the newer players.  The problem is that people are fleeing Detroit.  The population has actually decreased over the past few years, while most major cities have increased.  Things aren’t looking up.

Now there has been some tongue-in-cheek name calling of Chicago: Hawkeytown.  Chicago is slowly turning in to what Detroit used to be.  They are catching on to the philosophy of drafting talent rather than buying it and rookies are slowly taking over.  The likes of Jonathan Toews, Martin Havlat, Patrick Kane, Kris Versteeg (and more!) make it hard for any veteran to skate around these players.

The Blackhawks, like the Wings, were founded in 1926 and are part of the Original Six.  They even made their first playoff appearance in 1927, only their second year in the league.  But unlike the Wings, the Hawks have only made their way to the Stanley Cup Finals 10 times; winning only three times — the last of which was 1961.  Things weren’t going so well for the Blackhawks, and thing were only going to get worse.  Then-owner Bill Wirtz upped ticket prices despite the team losing and then forbade home games from being televised locally — if you wanted to see the Blackhawks play (and lose) you had to buy a ticket.  Rock bottom came in 2004, when the Hawks were named the worst franchise in all of professional sports by ESPN.  Great little morale booster, right?

Well,  then something changed.  Bill Wirtz died.  His son, Rocky Wirtz, has taken over ownership of the team and has drastically altered his father’s policies, making the franchise more welcome to fans and actually turning a profit.  Wirtz went out and bought himself the perfect new defensive coach, Joel Quenneville; signed the youngsters Kane and Toews (the oldest player on the team is now Nikolai Khabibulin, 36); started televising Hawks games locally; and actually finished with a winning record for the first time in the past six seasons.  Fittingly, Chicago hosted the Wings in the 2009 Winter Classic.  While Detroit won, the shift in fan relations was huge.  It was the first Blackhawks event held for fans in years, and it’s been noticeable ever since.  Even Scotty Bowman realized the shift and has since signed with Chicago to be part of the coaching staff.  The people of Chicago are starting to actually pay attention to their hockey team.  Chicago is taking the most important page of Detroit’s book and using it for themselves — and it’s working brilliantly.

While Chicago isn’t yet in the top 10 of most profitable NHL teams, they are right outside at 14th. Team value is placed at $205 million — and their value went up 14% in just one year (Detroit’s only improved 3%).  Chicago as a city isn’t facing hard times like Detroit – they are faring like any other large city in a recession.  But because of new construction and IT jobs sprouting up, Chicago — like Denver — is expected to be one of the first cities out of this economic turmoil.  It’s not a bad place to be living right now.

With Detroit now facing Chicago in the Western Conference Finals, fans in Chicago are especially perking up.  The Central Division is rapidly becoming the competitor that the Northwest Division used to be, with four out of five teams making the playoffs this season alone.  Detroit won the season series 4-2.  The interesting part is that Detroit won the first four (two were shootouts) and Chicago won the last two.  The last part of the season is when Chicago really found their footing and made a great drive to finish 4th in the conference. Here’s hoping that the transformation keeps going and Chicago can take the conference title.

If things keep heading on this slippery slope for Detroit, while the Blackhawks keep on their climb to the top, we could be looking at a new recipient of the title Hockeytown.  It’s going to be an interesting shift in the NHL, as it happens every decade or so (remember where the Penguins and Capitals were just a few years ago in 2002?).  It’s the beginning of a new era for Chicago, for Detroit, and for NHL teams everywhere that compete with these two amazing teams.

Note: For those interested in the Avalanche’s worth — we are in the top 10.

The Libertarian Party supported Proposal 1 in the last election.
The Democrats and Republicans would not touch it.

The Libertarian Party is the ONLY political party that has consistently called for the re-legalization of Drugs as a matter of principal.

Democrats & Republicans have been equally antagonistic to your right to control your own body chemistry.

• Presidents can pardon all federal prisoners. 
• Governors can pardon all state prisoners.
• They have not used this power as they should…
  This so-called “Land of the Free” has a larger portion of it’s citizens in prison, than any other country on Earth.  With a half million people being in jail for violating drug laws.

Nonetheless I applaud those who have worked to reform the major parties.  Regardless of partisan affiliation, we must make the right to control ones own bodies a hot-button issue.  We must make it clear to the politicians that we will not vote for any candidate who supports the continuation of prohibition.

Politicians who have been enacting federal drug laws (that do not address border crossings, or trade across state lines) are themselves criminals.

The Constitution only permits the federal government to regulate trade between states, not trade within states.  The Federal Government has no authority to trump state medical marijuana laws. 

As long as you don’t take drugs across state lines, sell drugs on Federal property, or use federal services to deliver drugs, they have no authority over this trade.

What about our current leaders?

• Candidate Barack Obama said he would not enforce federal Marijuana prohibition in states where it was legal.  Yet President Obama has failed to stop raids on dispensaries, and has not pardoned federal prisoners who were openly providing Marijuana in compliance with state laws.
• Secretary of state Clinton has blamed the second amendment for drug related violence at the Mexican border, when we all know drug prohibition is the root problem.
• Our Senators fall back on a Supreme Court ruling that medical marijuana violates federal law.  Yet they completely ignore the tenth amendment that states,

“The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”

But even if the Federal government begins to respect its Constitution, action at the state level is essential.

In Lansing, State Senator Patterson, submitted SCR004.  The goal of the resolution is to “affirm Michigan’s sovereignty under the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States over all powers not enumerated and granted to the federal government.” 

Everyone here needs to call and write their State rep and urge him or her to support HCR0004.  Also contact your state Senators and urge them to support SCR004.

Finally, the initiative process is under fire.  Many of the politicians in Lansing are unhappy with the way we the people have changed state law without their permission.  They want a Constitutional convention in 2010 so they can take that right away from you. 

Please vote NO on the Constitutional Convention in 2010.

I will be sharing this message with people at Detroit Liberation Day 2009.  I hope to see you there. 

Come to Detroit Liberation Day 2009

Meanwhile, enjoy this video from the 2009 Ann Arbor Hash Bash.

Congrats are also in order to the Chicago Blackhawks for advancing to the next level of the 2009 Stanley Cup Finals. They beat the Calgary Flames to reach the semifinals.

I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again. It’s just too cool to see the Blackhawks doing so well after all of these years. If they keep advancing skill-wise as they have been, I give them about five years to bring Stanley home.

Remember, Scotty Bowman is in the Chicago Blackhawks’ administration now. Stanley follows him around.

Go Hawks! (Until you meet the Wings)

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The Detroit Red Wings are the NHL’s version of the LA Lakers.

Why?

1. American institutions

When you think of the top teams in their respective sports, the Red Wings and Lakers are among the five team a casual sports fan would blurt out. The New York Knicks and New York Rangers might compare to these teams in terms of value, but neither of those Big Apple franchises can match the dominance of these two storied American sports franchises.

2. Multiple eras of dominance

Although the Red Wings had the “Dead Things” Era, Detroit dominated multiple generations of hockey. From the days of Gordie Howe to the Steve Yzerman age to the current Zetterberg-Datsyuk dynasty, Detroit justifies the stupid “We Don’t Rebuild, We Re-Load” slogan on the back of my eight grade football team T-shirt. (Wildcats for life motherfugees)

The LA Lakers might not have as many championships as the Boston Celtics, but even with Kevin Garnett’s greatness, the Lakers has been more successful in recent years. The Lakers have arguably an even more dominant lineage than the Red Wings as Jerry West, Elgin Baylor and Wilt Chamberlain passed the torch to Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul Jabbar who then made way for the Shaq-Kobe three-peat and now the “Europeans plus Kobe” gang.

3. Dominant Coaches

The Lakers had Pat “My hair is a daily Valdez spill” Reilly and now employ the league’s hippie-tastic answer to Red Auerbach, Phil Jackson. Detroit employed Scotty Bowman, almost undoubtedly the greatest coach in hockey history, as well as Mike Babcock (the coach of the decade, according to certain geniuses).

4. Shrewd, heart breaking and borderline unfair moves
The list of amazing players the Detroit Red Wings found in the lower depths of the NHL draft is a thing of mind blowing genius. Just take a look at some examples of their Tom Brady-like bargains: Pavel Datsyuk – 6th round; Henrik Zetterberg - 7th round; Tomas Holmstrom – 10th round; Nicklas Lidstrom - third round; Sergei Fedorov – fourth round.

While the Red Wings made the rest of the league look stupid with brilliant drafting, the Lakers made their biggest moves mostly through trades. Wilt Chamberlain and Kareem Abdul Jabbar came over to the Lakers in lopsided Gretzky-like deals. Kobe was drafted with a pick the Lakers acquired in a trade; Shaq came to LA after starting his career with the Orlando Magic. The deal to bring Pau Gasol to LA was so lopsided that some NBA figures hinted at foul play.

The Lakers and Red Wings are proof that the rich get richer.

5. Infrequent, yet sometimes extreme tragedy
That’s not to say these teams never fell on hard times. Magic Johnson became HIV-positive. Steve Yzerman was forced to retire after a grizzly eye injury. Few hockey fans could forget the awful limo accident that nearly took the life of Vladimir Konstantinov.

6. A bunch of championships
The Red Wings have the third most Stanley Cup championships (behind Montreal and Toronto) with 11 while the Lakes have the second most NBA titles with 14 (behind Boston’s 17).

But just to play the devil’s advocate:

• The Red Wings lack a polarizing star like Kobe, despite what some Penguins fans will tell you about Marian Hossa.
• Los Angeles is a West Coast, sun-baked city full of fake breasts and false hopes; Detroit is full of blue-collar workers living in fear for their jobs.
• The Lakers were awesome in the Eighties while the Red Wings were the Dead Things.
• To our knowledge, a coked-out Jack Nicholson never showed up to Red Wings games.

Paul M. Banks a.k.a. The Sports Bank, NBC Chicago Street Team

When Denis Savard was fired from his position as head coach of the Chicago Blackhawks just four games into this season, many people criticized the decision.
Most were uber-critical about the timing. Savard was a sentimental fan favorite, despite a 1-2-1 record on the young season.

Today however, the decision to insert Joel Quenneville in place of “Savvy” looks quite astute. With Coach Q. in place the team has seen its on-ice record (28-12-7 since the Indian committed to Quenneville) improve as much as the team’s Q Rating.

Click here to read the rest of this post on nbcchicago.com.

Mike Babcock
Record: 231 W – 118 L – 19 T – 42 OTL
Best years: Three division titles; 2002-03 (his lemons to lemonade year: coached an 8th 7th seed who beat Detroit and came within a game of a Cup) and 2007-08 (dominant Stanley Cup year – no team ever put the Red Wings at risk of elimination in the entire playoffs)

Barry Trotz
Record: 296 W – 261 L – 53 T – 46 OTL
Best years: 05-06 (106 pts, lost in first round) and 06-07 (110 points, lost in first round)
Fired?: No

Barry Trotz is the only coach in the history of the Nashville Predators. Behind the bench since 1998-99, Trotz often made something out of nothing. In fact, with only a few big name guys over the last few years like Paul Kariya and Jason Arnott, the Predators have been remarkably competitive.

They’ve also made it to the playoffs for the last four seasons.

Unfortunately, they’ve also been kicked out before ever seeing the second round. As great a coach as Trotz is, it might be hard to overcome that hurdle.

Ken Hitchcock
Record: 307 W – 202 L – 52 T – 51 OTL
Best years: Three division titles, 99-00 (lost in SCF) and 03-04 (lost in Game 7 of Conference finals)
Fired?: twice

Hitchcock is a bit of a victim of timing in this case. He won his only Stanley Cup with the Dallas Stars in 1998-99, the season before “the decade” began. Indeed, the three years before 99-00 were the best years of his coaching career.

That being said, Hithcock still has had an impressive decade. He took two different teams to the Conference Finals and brought the Stars to the Cup finals against the New Jersey Devils.

Perhaps the biggest knocks are that he’s been fired twice and missed the playoffs twice in a row as the coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets. Still, the Stars hit their highest level under his tutelage. And the Flyers were one game away from the SCF because of Hitchcock. Finally, the Blue Jackets are in the mix for this year’s playoffs which would be the first in the club’s history.

Jacques Lemaire
Record: 277 W – 242 L – 55 T – 47 OTL
Best years: One division title, 02-03 (lost in Conf. finals)
Fired?: No

Even if his name will forever be associated with the neutral zone trap, Lemaire is still one of the most respected coaches in the NHL. While his teams have missed the playoffs four times, he’s been able to coax some very successful seasons out of some minimally talented teams.

Ron Wilson
Record: 344 W – 228 L – 52 T – 46 OTL
Best years: four division titles, 03-04 (lost in Conf. finals) and 07-08 (108 pts)
Fired?: Twice

One of the best personalities in the NHL is also one of the best coaches. He lead both the Washington Capitals and San Jose Sharks from basement teams to perennial contenders. Along with being consistently quotable, Wilson’s claim to fame is being ahead of the pack when it comes to technology.

Wilson shares the unfortunate distinction with Hitchcock of being fired twice in this decade. However, it’s always a sign that you’re probably a worthwhile coach when you barely blink and a new offer is on the table. Both Wilson and Hitchcock barely wasted a month before being chosen as the coach of a different team.

Other possible contenders: Dave Tippett, Claude Julien, Randy Carlyle (too brief), Scotty Bowman (only three years, but did win a Cup) and Joel Quenneville. Maybe even Pat Burns or Pat Quinn?

A happy Sunday evening to all. I had a great time on the radio today. Murray and his crew were terrific. Little TSM and I enjoyed ourselves and I would love to do it again. Murray has promised me a copy of the segment and I will put it up as soon as I get it. For those of you who were kind enough to both listen and email me privately thanks for kind words, they are greatly appreciated.

With that review of my foray into the medium, lets switch gears and start to focus on the first media power rankings. Here is a review of the folks on the two radio stations that cover sports in the city:

On the Fan: Rick Ralph, Don Landry, Gord Stellick, Daren Millard, Nick Kypreos,Mike Brophy,Doug Farraway,Jack Armstrong, Doug MacLean, Bob McCown, Stephen Brunt, Jim Kelly, Roger Lajoie, Norm Rumack and throw in Eric Smith, Paul Jones, Paul Johnson, Sherman Hamilton and Jack Armstrong, Howard Berger, Rob Faulds, James Deacon and a myriad of regular guests(Dan Shulman, Rob Becker, Peter King, Brian Cooper, Jeff Blair, Richard Griffin, Bob Elliot, Michael Grange, Mary Ormsby, Keith Law, Iain Page, Gord Kirke, John Wells, David Shoalts, Glen Healy, Scotty Bowman, Jay Triano, Chris Schultz, Damien Cox, Elliott Friedman, Nick Kypreos, Pierre Mcguire, Adrion Smith, Eric Smith
On 640: Bill Watters, Darren Dreger, Greg Brady, Jonas Siegel, Andy Frost and their guests(Bob the Bear Cowan, Darren Dreger, Scott Morrison, BoB McKenzie, Christine Simpson,Brian Duff, Rob Higgins, Jim Ralph, Joe Bowen, Sean Baligian,
The first caveat is obvious, one is a 24 hour sports station, the other, well, it’s a talk radio station that does several hours of sports a day. The Fan is the measuring stick in this town. They have been here the longest, built an established brand and continue to create and host excellent programming. Are they perfect? Of course not. One of their biggest problems, in my opinion anyway, is that there simply is not that much to talk about 24/7. Having said that they do a damn good job filling the hours. I am not an Argo’s fan nor do i follow soccer or high school sports. I don’t bet on football either so there are times that I just have no real reason to listen. To either stations when those topics are being discussed.
I am not listening to the fan early enough to listen to Rick Ralph start the day, so I can’t comment on his show. I think he does a great job on his news updates though. Stellick and Landry, in my opinion are a big tease. They own the morning drive when it comes to sports. They are on a sports station but I feel that they do more sizzle and less steak. They don’t talk hardcore sports as much as they do hi-jinx. The odd joke or “bit” is fine. In my opinion it is just over kill. The John Gibbons, Ken Dryden, Vito from Woodbridge and the mind reader schtick are just lame now – again in my opinion. Their insiders can be great. When they talk sports they are terrific. The segments they used to do with Sam Mitchell were the best on the station. I could do without Kathryn Humphreys to be honest.

You listen to Mike Hogan and Mike Tooth, you can’t help but think these are two good guys. They love all things Canadian, junior and college athletics and of course the CFL. Unfortunately, and maybe it’s just for me, but, very little of that makes for interesting radio. Like I said, they sound like nice guys talking sports. They have some decent guests who seem to know a lot about the CFL and Canadian college football. They do get some good NFL guests as well, however I think I am the only sports fan in this city who is not enamored with Chris Schultz. From my perspective, he is way too technical and relies too much on that from his playing days. He too, seems like a nice enough guy, just not compelling enough to listen to. I find their hockey and baseball coverage lacking. They do spend at least an hour each and every week during the season on the Raptors and that is great to listen to. As I have said though, by virtue of not being an Argo/CFL guy there are at least 2 days a week where I will instantly change the channel because that is all they talk about.

The first daily battle starts at the noon hour. This is a war that is starting to get more interesting as the days go by. Every time Kypreos and Watters are on the tv together they look like they are going to kill each other. Watters the ex-agent, assistant GM, high school coach and color commentator vs. Kypreos the ex touch guy player turned analyst/insider. You can’t help but believe that they truly want to cream the other every chance they get and they go head to head on most days at the noon hour. Mallard and Brophy are there with Kypreos and a ton of quality guests. The one nice thing about this show is that it pretty unstructured. In this case it sounds like a couple of guys talking about hockey the same way we all do with our own friends. Brophy lost of respect from me this past week when he went toe to toe with Pat Quinn, tried to embarrass him and was wrong. Up the dial, you throw in Dreger and another great group of guests and you have a show that is quite good too. Dreger seems to the new(er) boy wonder on the scene. He breaks a ton of stories and where he used to have to sit in McKenzie’s shadow he has his own track record now and people look to see what he is going to have to say when a story seems to be breaking, if he wasn’t the one to break it. Kypreos is a little too pro-player and Wilbur too ignorant (I prefer bigoted but I am flexible Mike S.) and his anti-MLSE stance has just about run its course. Truth is, I try to listen to who and what each are going to be talking about on a given day and listen based on that information. If you don’t care about listening live then you can do what I tend to do and pick after the fact by listening in on the web late at night.
Doug Fairway is the Fan’s DH. I have no clue if this true, but I get the feeling that he is the go to guy at the fan. He does an admirable job filling in WHENEVER. He ihas some good opinions and I love listening to his sarcasm when he does the deadline show or other big event shows. I have never heard his 1pm show so I can’t comment on it.
The one show I really like on the Fan is Maclean who just needs to stop talking about his own wealth for a segment and Armstrong who seems to know his basketball (hell if I know) and makes a great effort to talk shop in all the other sports, including hockey. These guys work really well together, they get good guests and both bring unique perspectives to the events as they unfold each and every afternoon.
The big boys come out during the drive home show. As I wrote this past week, when McCown and Wilbur are ON their respective games, both are excellent. McCown with Burke this week was the best interview I have heard with Burke since he took the job. When Wilbur actually interviewed Collangelo and didn’t try to use jokes and innuendo to prove to his listeners how close he is to the guests as he usually does he proved to be a great interviewer. It was the first time I had heard that in him. He should go that route more often. The shows are very different if you think about it though. McCown is the host on Prime Time Sports. Kelly or Brunt (or anyone else sitting in as co-host) fill in with opinion while McCown leads the discussions and directs the show. On 640, it is almost as if Brady is driving the ship. That is not to suggest there is no deference on the air, it is clear it is Wilbur’s show (hell, look at the name). Brady is driving the show though; Brady leads the show through, calls, breaks, news traffic etc. He is the one who introduces guests. Neither format is right, but they are different. Kelly is McCown’s Ed McMahon, Brunt much less so. There is no real sense of that on 640. The guys disagree quite often and there seems to be a mutual amount of respect for the opinion of the other. To me again, it comes down to the guests. In this category McCown wins for diversity. Whom is best is based on opinion of course. Put Mckenzie on with McCown up against the combo of Dreger and Morrission on 640 and you have a pretty difficult decision. 2 nights a week McCown does round tables. I think the format used to be great. I am not overly fond of a lot of the folks who have been around the table recently. Nothing personal, but Rob Faulds, and Mary Ormsby just don’t interest me that much, and a result I seem to be flipping more often away from them as I did before. The same can be said for having Morrison and Dreger on every night. I know, this is a leaf town, and we all love to talk LEAFS, LEAFS, LEAFS…but I would like to have a little variety. As with the lunch hour, my listening depends greatly on who is going to be on the show (both hosting and guesting!) I look every night to see who was on the show I didn’t listen to and try to catch parts of what they put on the web.

There is no better interviewer in the game, in this city then Bob McCown. We all know if big news breaks in the world of sports McCown will have a take on it, and someone involved at a high level will be on PTS to talk about it. It’s hard to compete with that. When it is hockey related, especially the Leafs 640 is the place to go. Wilbur and Brady do a great job breaking down all things Maple Leafs. With Burke in town they are providing much more balanced opinions on the Leafs and despite the fact they are on each and every night, Morrison and Dreger have the league covered. I will take Jonas’s green-ness over Howie’s editorials every day. If Berger could just report on the facts he would be a good beat guy. Jonas needs to spend more time in front of the mirror and work on his own material.

After 7pm, I don’t listen that much unless I am in the car. I listen to pre, post and live games. If I have twitter on, the Fan does a phenomenal job keeping folks up to date as to what is coming up on the air. If any of the shows have interesting topics/guests I tune in. Norm Rumack (I know, I sound like a broken record)does get some interesting people on who just don’t get called upon during the normal business day. He is much easier to listen to know that he adopted a team other then the Leafs and his rah rah Syracuse is pretty funny. I will say this, I will take the personality of Andy Frost vs. Mike Wilner any day. Both guys have the worst jobs in sports media, taking post game calls. It has become more apparent that this has taken a toll on Wilner as he gets more crotchety each and every year. Frost seems to have the right demeanor for the gig and man no better a voice for radio exists in this town.
So, there you have it. A fairly comprehensive run down on sports radio here in Toronto. I am going to try to provide the weekly media power rankings. Everyone is fair game. Radio, TV, print, play-by play etc. So many of you send me clips, links and articles, I will need more of the same so keep em coming.

Everyone in life needs a mentor.  The path in which they come in and out of our lives is a journey that can be short or long.  Scotty Bowman was with the Red Wings since 1993 and he has always been in the shadows to help every coach after him if they needed some guidance.  Every year until this year when he decided to leave for Chicago.  His Son, Stan that is an Assistant GM, is documented for having cancer, so he went to be with his family and to help grow the franchise that has a long suffering tradition.

Scotty was a Coach and Mentor for the Detroit Red Wings since 1993!

With the training wheels off it seems like the Red Wings have lost their drive and lack the urgency to get things done and they are NOT acting like the team that had won the Cup last year.  Some say that it is the well documented Cup Hangover that most Cup winning teams suffer.   Which I do agree could partly true but I also think the Bowman factor could be another factor that is not  well documented.  They also are not acting like  a TEAM.  Where did the TEAM go?  That is a mystery that we are waiting to find out.

When you have a well established coach that has been with the team in some for since 1993.  Some of the members of the team were coached by him, and Coach Mike Babcock, used to have talks with him everyday or almost everyday and then he is gone.  You lack the person from the other side that sees the ice and how you document things differently then from someone that is inside the organization.

I think these slow starts might be a combination of two things.  Todd McLellan leaving and Scotty Bowman not  being in the shadow.  When the training wheels get taken off and you have to go solo that has to have some kind of trickle down effect on the team that has been used to him being in the shadows for so long.

What do you do when your mentor decides that it is time to take a different path?  Do you have the confidence to pull things out or do you change your way of thinking?  These things can be applied to life and NOT just the Red Wings.

by Ron Spence

I’ve been watching the Chicago power struggle since Dennis Savard was fired 4 games into last season.

At the time the Windy City scribes were noticing the shadow of Scotty – and his puppet son – in the wings.

And then it was questioned whether someone wanting the GM’s job – or wanting his son to have it – was using the late mailings as an opportunity to embarrass and eventually have Dale Tallon fired.

We wrote a piece on it: DALE TALLON DODGING THE CHOPPING BLOCK.

Well, I think everyone can put all of the pieces of the puzzle together.

Scotty has accomplished that which he wanted.

Will Chicago be a better team?

I doubt it.