For the thirtieth year, the cars and stars of the IndyCar Series headed north of the border to Ontario, Canada for the popular race on the demandingly bumpy street circuit around downtown Toronto’s Exhibition Place. It’s one of the biggest events of the year, always in front of a huge Canadian crowd. Here’s all you need to know from IndyCar’s only Canadian stop:
Maximum Power
He’s done it again! For the third time in four races, Australia’s Will Power had landed himself in the winner’s circle. After back-to-back victories in Detroit and Road America, the Queenslander finished second last week in Iowa, and stormed to the front in Toronto to take another win, finishing 1.5275 seconds ahead of his nearest challenger, teammate Helio Castroneves.
To be honest, though, this was an unlikely win for Power. The 85-lap race was dominated by Target Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon in the #9 Chevrolet. Dixon, the Queensland-born New Zealander, was running away with the event when a late race caution fell at the worst possible time. On the last round of stops, Dixon’s crew had left him out one lap longer than the rest of the front-runners, and a yellow flag for Josef Newgarden’s accident sent the defending IndyCar Series champion outside the top ten.
Conversely, Power’s crew brought him in just before the caution, allowing the 2014 IndyCar Series champion to cycle to the front as everyone else pitted. Runner-up Castroneves was on the same strategy – whether it was insane luck or absolute knife-edge timing, we’ll never know – and followed Power home. It was a popular third place finish for Canada’s favourite racing son, James Hinchcliffe.
You have to feel desperately sorry for Dixon, who had everyone’s measure for the bulk of the event, leading 56 of 85 laps. Were it not for an unlucky call, the Kiwi would almost certainly have been celebrating his second victory of the year – he won the second race of the season on the Phoenix oval – but instead had to settle for an eighth place finish, after a barnstorming final stint, charging from thirteenth.
There was some great, hard side-by-side racing through the field – particularly the early battle between Newgarden and Juan Pablo Montoya, and seemingly at every restart – in front of a huge Canadian crowd befitting the event’s thirtieth birthday. This is a great event, and we should all hope that IndyCar continues to visit Toronto for many years to come.
Points Race
Alongside Dixon in being caught out by the Newgarden accident and the subsequent yellow flag was points leader, Frenchman Simon Pagenaud. A ninth-place run for the Team Penske driver resulted in him losing a major chunk of his sizeable points lead to Power. Newgarden’s accident allowed Power to slide into second place in the championship hunt, just forty-seven markers back with five races left.
Make no mistake, Power in that silver #12 for Team Penske is right in the hunt.
Oh, Canada
It was a good day for James Hinchcliffe in his home race. A masterful job stretching fuel resulted in a two-stop race thanks to timely cautions, and a trip to the Toronto podium. It was a popular result with the locals and a good one for Hinch, who has had some awful luck in Canada during his career. Canadians have a good history of winning in Toronto – local Paul Tracy won twice during his glittering career – and I’d love nothing more than to see Hinchcliffe win in front of his adoring fans one year soon.
Josef Newgarden
The Iowa winner took a shot as he ploughed into the outside wall on lap 58 to bring out the race-defining caution. Remember that the American has been racing with a broken hand and collarbone. He was visibly in pain after the accident, and the DNF will just about put an end to his championship aspirations.
Back to Front
Driving for AJ Foyt, Japan’s Takuma Sato scythed through the field to gained fifteen positions during the race to finish an impressive fifth. Sato is either hot or cold. There’s no in between for him. Today, he was hot, and it was great to see the likeable Japanese native, who is one half of the strangest driver-owner combination in the IndyCar Series paddock, up near the front.
Marco Andretti was similarly impressive coming through the field, charging from twenty-second to tenth in his Andretti Autosport Honda. It was Marco’s strongest non-oval run in recent memory.
The Mad Russian
Robin Miller said it best on NBC’s pre-race show: the Mad Russian is the new cult hero of IndyCar racing. After a strong run in Iowa last Sunday night, Schmidt Peterson Motorsport’s Mikhail Aleshin spent most of the day leading the Honda charge, overtaken only by his teammate Hinchcliffe. Aleshin’s sixth-place finish was a highlight of the day. He’s getting better week by week, and doubtless benefits from having Hinchcliffe as a teammate.
Mid-Ohio is Next!
The IndyCar Series has a week off before entering the home stretch of the 2016 season, reconvening at the natural terrain Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio over the last weekend in July. Ohio native Graham Rahal is the defending champion.
Monday, July 18, 2016
Monday, July 11, 2016
2016 IndyCar Series: Iowa Corn 300 Talking Points
Two weeks after a massively successful return to the epic natural terrain road course at Road America in Wisconsin, the IndyCar Series moved to Iowa Speedway, a 0.851-mile short track in the middle of corn country. Here are the talking points from the third oval event of the 2016 season:
Newgarden Dominates
When you’re good, you’re real good, and Josef Newgarden was absolutely superb on Sunday afternoon, completely and absolutely obliterating the rest of the field en route to his first ever IndyCar Series oval victory. The Tennessean, a rising star who will be the face of the series for hopefully many years to come, led 282 of the 300 laps run around the fast, tight oval out in the American heartland.
Whichever way you look at it, Newgarden’s drive was a butt-whooping of the highest order, but when you consider that the young American is driving with a broken hand and clavicle, with thirteen screws inserted into it, following a vicious crash at the postponed Texas Motor Speedway race, his effort to head off the entire field on a track where the G-force loading is extreme is even more amazing.
I don’t think any of us not on out there racing can properly understand the nature of short-track racing. An IndyCar laps Iowa at an average speed of 160mph, better than 250kmh, and it’s bumpy as hell. At that speed, every bump the car hits is going to hurt. Graham Rahal tweeted that he’d never been so sore after a race and, to a man, IndyCar drivers believe that Iowa is the toughest track, physically speaking, that they run, including the insane speeds at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
The physical nature of the track, combined with the injuries Newgarden brought in make his dominating triumph perhaps the most impressive victory in recent IndyCar Series memory. JoNew totally deserved this one, and after two years dominating at Iowa but not quite getting the win – a late pit stop snafu in 2015 handed victory to Ryan Hunter-Reay, and it was a crushing loss for the Tennessean – it was great to see him in victory lane. I daresay we’ll see plenty more of the affable American in IndyCar victory lane in years to come.
The Points Chase
After two straight wins – the second leg of the double header in Detroit and Road America in dominating fashion two weekends ago – Australia’s Will Power has once more furthered his championship cause. A late-race burst saw the Queenslander overtake current championship leader Simon Pagenaud and New Zealand’s Scott Dixon to take a strong second place and, importantly, to shave six points from Pagenaud.
Currently, Power sits in third, seventy-five points back of his Penske teammate Pagenaud but only two markers back of Newgarden. The key here is that Newgarden crashed out of the eventually-postponed Texas race – the moment he sustained the clavicle and hand injuries – and will not line up for the resumption, so Power figures to jump ahead of the American.
Another victory or two, and a handful of finishes ahead of Pagenaud, and the series championship is going to come right down to the wire. There’s plenty of racing left in the 2016 season – and don’t forget the double points on offer at the Sonoma Raceway finale.
Mikhail Aleshin
A great fifth place finish for the Schmidt Petersen Motorsports driver. The Russian has shown flashes of speed throughout his short IndyCar Series tenure, and drove a smart race on Sunday, leading home the Honda contingent, seven seconds behind Newgarden, and the last man on the lead lap. The next step in Aleshin’s development is to develop season-long consistency, but it was an impressive drive nonetheless.
Attendance
It was a disappointing turnout at Iowa, which has become a bastion of IndyCar Series racing in the last few years. There were noticeable gaps of empty seats on the grandstands, and the great shame of that is that behind Josef Newgarden, the racing was fast and furious, with plenty of side-by-side action.
Generally, it’s IndyCar who chooses start times and days, with input from television partners, but by all accounts, it was the track who wanted a late Sunday afternoon start. By the time the field took the green flag, it was nearly five o’clock. Surely, such a late start and the prospect of a long drive home before work on Monday kept plenty of folks away.
Earlier in the weekend, the track announced that it had extended its contract with the IndyCar Series, meaning there’ll be races in the cornfields in 2017 and 2018. The powers-that-be would be smart to have the green flag drop at around 1:00pm local time.
You need only look at Road America, who did exactly that, and look at what sort of a turn-out they had – attracting fans from as far away as suburban Chicago. The early start allows people to get home at a reasonable time on Sunday evening. Proper timing should see an uptick in attendance.
Off to Toronto
No rest for the wicked, or for IndyCar Series teams, with the circus heading north of the border for the popular race weekend on the streets of Toronto next weekend. It’s always a spectacular race up in Ontario, with a wonderful crowd, many parochially support Canadian favourite James Hinchcliffe. I can’t wait!
Newgarden Dominates
When you’re good, you’re real good, and Josef Newgarden was absolutely superb on Sunday afternoon, completely and absolutely obliterating the rest of the field en route to his first ever IndyCar Series oval victory. The Tennessean, a rising star who will be the face of the series for hopefully many years to come, led 282 of the 300 laps run around the fast, tight oval out in the American heartland.
Whichever way you look at it, Newgarden’s drive was a butt-whooping of the highest order, but when you consider that the young American is driving with a broken hand and clavicle, with thirteen screws inserted into it, following a vicious crash at the postponed Texas Motor Speedway race, his effort to head off the entire field on a track where the G-force loading is extreme is even more amazing.
I don’t think any of us not on out there racing can properly understand the nature of short-track racing. An IndyCar laps Iowa at an average speed of 160mph, better than 250kmh, and it’s bumpy as hell. At that speed, every bump the car hits is going to hurt. Graham Rahal tweeted that he’d never been so sore after a race and, to a man, IndyCar drivers believe that Iowa is the toughest track, physically speaking, that they run, including the insane speeds at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
The physical nature of the track, combined with the injuries Newgarden brought in make his dominating triumph perhaps the most impressive victory in recent IndyCar Series memory. JoNew totally deserved this one, and after two years dominating at Iowa but not quite getting the win – a late pit stop snafu in 2015 handed victory to Ryan Hunter-Reay, and it was a crushing loss for the Tennessean – it was great to see him in victory lane. I daresay we’ll see plenty more of the affable American in IndyCar victory lane in years to come.
The Points Chase
After two straight wins – the second leg of the double header in Detroit and Road America in dominating fashion two weekends ago – Australia’s Will Power has once more furthered his championship cause. A late-race burst saw the Queenslander overtake current championship leader Simon Pagenaud and New Zealand’s Scott Dixon to take a strong second place and, importantly, to shave six points from Pagenaud.
Currently, Power sits in third, seventy-five points back of his Penske teammate Pagenaud but only two markers back of Newgarden. The key here is that Newgarden crashed out of the eventually-postponed Texas race – the moment he sustained the clavicle and hand injuries – and will not line up for the resumption, so Power figures to jump ahead of the American.
Another victory or two, and a handful of finishes ahead of Pagenaud, and the series championship is going to come right down to the wire. There’s plenty of racing left in the 2016 season – and don’t forget the double points on offer at the Sonoma Raceway finale.
Mikhail Aleshin
A great fifth place finish for the Schmidt Petersen Motorsports driver. The Russian has shown flashes of speed throughout his short IndyCar Series tenure, and drove a smart race on Sunday, leading home the Honda contingent, seven seconds behind Newgarden, and the last man on the lead lap. The next step in Aleshin’s development is to develop season-long consistency, but it was an impressive drive nonetheless.
Attendance
It was a disappointing turnout at Iowa, which has become a bastion of IndyCar Series racing in the last few years. There were noticeable gaps of empty seats on the grandstands, and the great shame of that is that behind Josef Newgarden, the racing was fast and furious, with plenty of side-by-side action.
Generally, it’s IndyCar who chooses start times and days, with input from television partners, but by all accounts, it was the track who wanted a late Sunday afternoon start. By the time the field took the green flag, it was nearly five o’clock. Surely, such a late start and the prospect of a long drive home before work on Monday kept plenty of folks away.
Earlier in the weekend, the track announced that it had extended its contract with the IndyCar Series, meaning there’ll be races in the cornfields in 2017 and 2018. The powers-that-be would be smart to have the green flag drop at around 1:00pm local time.
You need only look at Road America, who did exactly that, and look at what sort of a turn-out they had – attracting fans from as far away as suburban Chicago. The early start allows people to get home at a reasonable time on Sunday evening. Proper timing should see an uptick in attendance.
Off to Toronto
No rest for the wicked, or for IndyCar Series teams, with the circus heading north of the border for the popular race weekend on the streets of Toronto next weekend. It’s always a spectacular race up in Ontario, with a wonderful crowd, many parochially support Canadian favourite James Hinchcliffe. I can’t wait!
Monday, June 27, 2016
2016 IndyCar Series: Road America Talking Points
Finally, the premier open-wheel series in North America is back racing at North America’s best racetrack. Ask any driver what their favourite track on the continent is, and they’re going to name Road America, the 4.048-mile ribbon of tarmac that winds its way through the Wisconsin countryside near the tiny village of Elkhart Lake.
2007 was the last time the IndyCar Series raced at Road America, and in the mean time we’ve had to watch the heavy stock cars of the second-tier NASCAR Xfinity Series lumber around the picturesque track and look clumsy in the process. Finally, IndyCars are back at Elkhart Lake, and their return was a spectacular one. Here are the Road America Grand Prix talking points:
Will Power Dominates
After a win in Detroit wiped out a year-long stretch without a win, Australia’s Will Power didn’t wait much longer to notch his second victory of the season. Indeed, with the Texas Motor Speedway race postponed by rain and shifted to August, the Queenslander’s won two straight races to reignite championship hopes that were on the ropes following his exclusion from the season-opening race due to concussion issues, and a run of indifferent form since.
Whereas Power’s victory at Detroit was a hard-fought affair, particularly with his Team Penske brethren, his Road America triumph was an emphatic one leading forty-six of fifty laps en route to the chequered flag after staring on pole.
Despite a late challenge from runner-up Tony Kanaan, this was Power’s day. He pretty much brained the field. We’ve seen it before and we’ll see it again, I hope. This was vintage Will Power. He drove like he did so often in his IndyCar Series championship year of 2014, and is not without a shot at another championship this year, just eighty-one points back of series leader Simon Pagenaud, with seven races left. Suddenly, Power’s dangerous again.
Josef Newgarden
Superman award of the race goes to the Tennessean, who, before the eventual postponement and rescheduling of the Texas Motor Speedway, was involved in a fierce crash with Connor Daly. It looked worse than it was, but the end result for the American star was a broken collarbone and it seemed like he’d be on the sidelines for at least a few races.
Instead, Newgarden suited up at Road America, doing an immense job in the long race, carving through the field from twenty-second to finish eighth. That’s a damn good day’s work under any circumstances, and especially with a broken collarbone. His multi-lap duel with Juan Pablo Montoya was some of the best racing all day.
Honda
Graham Rahal admitted he was jealous of Chevrolet’s top speed after being passed by Chevy-powered cars on the long front straight, but the Ohio native had another strong day, driving his bright yellow Rahal Letterman Lanigan machine to a third place finish. Not bad for a one-car team.
Fellow Honda runner Ryan Hunter-Reay finished fourth, and deserves kudos as he was battling flu all weekend. Race day was hot, and RHR would’ve felt it in the car. Huge effort from the Floridian.
Spencer Pigot
The promising American, driving for Ed Carpenter Racing, came home ninth, the best-finishing rookie driver. There’s plenty of cause for optimism for the youngster, who won the Indy Lights title a year ago, and partnering Josef Newgarden at all road course events – owner/driver Ed Carpenter drives the oval track events – will only help accelerate Pigot’s development. He’s a star of the future, and it was great seeing him have such a positive run this weekend.
The Championship Hunt
After dominating up to and including the road course race at Indianapolis, Frenchman Simon Pagenaud has gone a little off the boil, and finished a distant thirteenth on Sunday at Road America.
Courtesy of three straight race victories, the Frenchman still has a nice buffer in the points race, leading Helio Castroneves by seventy-four points. Will Power is seven markers further back, with Australian-born Kiwi Scott Dixon in fourth place and Josef Newgarden rounding out the top five.
The drivers chasing Pagenaud are all within a hundred points, and given there’s six races left, not to mention double points at the Sonoma finale, even Newgarden, ninety-two points back, isn’t completely without a shot.
The Crowd
It’s been a long time away from Road America for the IndyCar Series, and it appears that Wisconsinites have missed the open wheelers. Reports emerged midway through the 200-mile race that the track attendance record had been smashed, with more than 100,000 fans attending across the three-day weekend, and around 50,000 on race day alone, according to track president George Bruggenthies.
The fans who turned out were given a treat: the race was one of the best road course events in recent memory. Sure, there wasn't a pass for the lead, but there was immense action throughout the top ten all day. As Montoya quipped, any fan who wasn't satisfied with the on-track product today should go and watch horse racing. Well said!
This was the biggest race weekend in the track’s storied history, and the track was just about falling over itself to note that the IndyCar Series would be back next June – and against the year following. Hopefully, there’s IndyCar racing annually at Road America for the rest of my lifetime and longer.
Hopefully the powers-that-be learn from this: there was a huge appetite for open-wheel racing in Wisconsin, part of the American Midwest where IndyCar racing has always been strong. Perhaps instead of trying to make races work in places like Boston or New Orleans, the series will go back to it’s heartland roots and cater to diehard IndyCar fans in places like St Louis (Gateway Motorsports Park) and Milwaukee (The Milwaukee Mile). One can only hope!
The IndyCar Series is back in action in two weeks’ time on the Iowa Speedway bullring.
2007 was the last time the IndyCar Series raced at Road America, and in the mean time we’ve had to watch the heavy stock cars of the second-tier NASCAR Xfinity Series lumber around the picturesque track and look clumsy in the process. Finally, IndyCars are back at Elkhart Lake, and their return was a spectacular one. Here are the Road America Grand Prix talking points:
Will Power Dominates
After a win in Detroit wiped out a year-long stretch without a win, Australia’s Will Power didn’t wait much longer to notch his second victory of the season. Indeed, with the Texas Motor Speedway race postponed by rain and shifted to August, the Queenslander’s won two straight races to reignite championship hopes that were on the ropes following his exclusion from the season-opening race due to concussion issues, and a run of indifferent form since.
Whereas Power’s victory at Detroit was a hard-fought affair, particularly with his Team Penske brethren, his Road America triumph was an emphatic one leading forty-six of fifty laps en route to the chequered flag after staring on pole.
Despite a late challenge from runner-up Tony Kanaan, this was Power’s day. He pretty much brained the field. We’ve seen it before and we’ll see it again, I hope. This was vintage Will Power. He drove like he did so often in his IndyCar Series championship year of 2014, and is not without a shot at another championship this year, just eighty-one points back of series leader Simon Pagenaud, with seven races left. Suddenly, Power’s dangerous again.
Josef Newgarden
Superman award of the race goes to the Tennessean, who, before the eventual postponement and rescheduling of the Texas Motor Speedway, was involved in a fierce crash with Connor Daly. It looked worse than it was, but the end result for the American star was a broken collarbone and it seemed like he’d be on the sidelines for at least a few races.
Instead, Newgarden suited up at Road America, doing an immense job in the long race, carving through the field from twenty-second to finish eighth. That’s a damn good day’s work under any circumstances, and especially with a broken collarbone. His multi-lap duel with Juan Pablo Montoya was some of the best racing all day.
Honda
Graham Rahal admitted he was jealous of Chevrolet’s top speed after being passed by Chevy-powered cars on the long front straight, but the Ohio native had another strong day, driving his bright yellow Rahal Letterman Lanigan machine to a third place finish. Not bad for a one-car team.
Fellow Honda runner Ryan Hunter-Reay finished fourth, and deserves kudos as he was battling flu all weekend. Race day was hot, and RHR would’ve felt it in the car. Huge effort from the Floridian.
Spencer Pigot
The promising American, driving for Ed Carpenter Racing, came home ninth, the best-finishing rookie driver. There’s plenty of cause for optimism for the youngster, who won the Indy Lights title a year ago, and partnering Josef Newgarden at all road course events – owner/driver Ed Carpenter drives the oval track events – will only help accelerate Pigot’s development. He’s a star of the future, and it was great seeing him have such a positive run this weekend.
The Championship Hunt
After dominating up to and including the road course race at Indianapolis, Frenchman Simon Pagenaud has gone a little off the boil, and finished a distant thirteenth on Sunday at Road America.
Courtesy of three straight race victories, the Frenchman still has a nice buffer in the points race, leading Helio Castroneves by seventy-four points. Will Power is seven markers further back, with Australian-born Kiwi Scott Dixon in fourth place and Josef Newgarden rounding out the top five.
The drivers chasing Pagenaud are all within a hundred points, and given there’s six races left, not to mention double points at the Sonoma finale, even Newgarden, ninety-two points back, isn’t completely without a shot.
The Crowd
It’s been a long time away from Road America for the IndyCar Series, and it appears that Wisconsinites have missed the open wheelers. Reports emerged midway through the 200-mile race that the track attendance record had been smashed, with more than 100,000 fans attending across the three-day weekend, and around 50,000 on race day alone, according to track president George Bruggenthies.
The fans who turned out were given a treat: the race was one of the best road course events in recent memory. Sure, there wasn't a pass for the lead, but there was immense action throughout the top ten all day. As Montoya quipped, any fan who wasn't satisfied with the on-track product today should go and watch horse racing. Well said!
This was the biggest race weekend in the track’s storied history, and the track was just about falling over itself to note that the IndyCar Series would be back next June – and against the year following. Hopefully, there’s IndyCar racing annually at Road America for the rest of my lifetime and longer.
Hopefully the powers-that-be learn from this: there was a huge appetite for open-wheel racing in Wisconsin, part of the American Midwest where IndyCar racing has always been strong. Perhaps instead of trying to make races work in places like Boston or New Orleans, the series will go back to it’s heartland roots and cater to diehard IndyCar fans in places like St Louis (Gateway Motorsports Park) and Milwaukee (The Milwaukee Mile). One can only hope!
The IndyCar Series is back in action in two weeks’ time on the Iowa Speedway bullring.
Sunday, June 26, 2016
Sydney’s Wayne Gretzky Ice Hockey Classic Was A Great Hockey Showcase
Wayne Gretzky once quipped that you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take. On Saturday evening at Qudos Bank Arena inside the Sydney Olympic Park Precinct, hockey – of the ice variety – received a shot. A massive shot in the arm, and it came in the form of Gretzky himself, nicknamed The Great One, and generally considered to be one of the greatest athletes in the world. Certainly, his feats in the National Hockey League will never be matched. His name is recognised around the world, even down here in Australia, whether you’re a hockey fan or not.
Hosting the fourth of five games in the aptly-named Wayne Gretzky Ice Hockey Classic, featuring teams from USA and Canada, made up of a smattering of NHL stars and plenty of AHL talent as well, Gretzky, by his very presence, turned the crowded arena into hockey paradise.
Anyone who was there knows exactly what I mean. With the temperature down in the mid-teens, it felt more like a hockey night than these events previously have. The flood of different jerseys on the walk from the train station down Olympic Boulevard to the arena, as close to an NHL-spec barn as Australia has to offer, showed that there was plenty of support for Canada and the Americans – and for the Oilers, Rangers, Penguins, Blackhawks and even the Whalers and Nordiques. Nothing cooler than a throwback jersey! Except maybe a #99 Gretzky one on this night.
Say what you will about the exhibition nature of the series. There are people out there who line up to take shots at the line-up and the intensity of games that are played in the off-season for professional hockey, by guys – NHL goaltenders Ben Scrivens and Scott Darling, reigning All Star Game MVP John Scott and Stanley Cup champion Brandon Bolling amongst them – who’ve come halfway around the world to put on a show and to promote concussion awareness, an incredibly important and worthwhile cause.
If you expect them to go full-pace like it’s Game Seven of the Stanley Cup Finals, you’re mad. Even so, the final period, plus a frantic five minutes of three-on-three overtime and the following shootout, won by Canada 4-3, thanks to a Chad Nehring winner in the sixth round, was sensationally paced, and not without a little physicality, too. It was by far the best of these games I’ve seen. Two NHL goaltenders helped, as did the nice smattering of other NHL talent. The roster depth has gone from strength to strength each year.
That the tour happens at all is pretty amazing, and every single one of the players on this trip have taken time out of their short off-season vacation/family time to spread the hockey gospel far beyond it’s regular borders, should be lauded by one and all. Not derided.
Ticket prices? Yeah, they’re expensive, but when you consider how much the insurance payments for some of the NHL guys would be, and the cost of building rinks in all the arenas, quite aside from feeding, housing and transporting athletes around, it’s little wonder. But the value for money is great, if you go in expecting an All Star-type contest, which I always do.
The way the entire night is packed up is unbeatable. For once a year attendees like my dad (who thoroughly enjoyed himself) the whole spectacle is undeniably exciting, right down to the anthems and the WWE-style introductions of the players. Oh, and the Kiss Cam, Bongo Cam and a double chance at karaoke – “The Horses” by Daryl Braithwaite and John Farnham’s “You’re The Voice” by – were great fun, too.
For those of us who live and breathe the game, a fun night was made so much more memorable because Wayne Gretzky was in the house, and plenty of folks turned up more than two hours before puck drop in the main game to see #99 on the ice in a four-on-four charity contest.
It took a few moments for it to sink in. Wayne Gretzky. On the ice. In front of my eyes. In Sydney of all places! It was a pretty trippy moment for me, and, I’m sure, for many others. I never got to see Gretzky play live, but have seen many highlights on YouTube and DVD over the years. I never expected to see him in an Australian rink, almost close enough for me to reach out and touch him. I bet #99 didn’t figure such a thing was possible as recently as a handful of years ago, either.
As Gretzky said recently, the Los Angeles Kings were playing to crowds of less than 6,000 before he arrived there, and now the south-west of the United States features three good teams – Los Angeles, Anaheim and San Jose – who regularly play to capacity crowds, and Scottsdale, Arizona’s own Auston Matthews was selected first overall at the NHL Entry Draft the morning of Sydney’s slice of hockey suggest that things are changing. Scottsdale certainly isn’t a hockey hotbed, yet Matthews, who grew up playing on synthetic rinks, is poised for NHL greatness.
Sold-out crowds in Los Angeles? An American from Arizona as taken first in the Draft? Twenty or thirty years ago all of this would’ve seemed impossible to most hockey fans and pundits. Now, it’s happening before our eyes – and it’s proof positive that hockey’s frontiers are shifting.
We already have one Australian, Nathan Walker, plying his trade in the AHL, the feeder league to the NHL, and who knows how many other kids might’ve been inspired by Gretzky, John Scott, Ben Scrivens, Scott Darling or some other player on the ice on Saturday night. Who knows where that may lead in the future? Somewhere good, hopefully.
Kudos to Mike Baird, Destination NSW, Stop Concussions and TLA Worldwide for combining to bring Gretzky over. The amount of media he’s done over the last few days, most of it in front of iconic Sydney landmarks, will be beamed around the world, and I’m betting Saturday night’s spectacle has converted at least a few more hockey fans.
Welcome to the club!
Hosting the fourth of five games in the aptly-named Wayne Gretzky Ice Hockey Classic, featuring teams from USA and Canada, made up of a smattering of NHL stars and plenty of AHL talent as well, Gretzky, by his very presence, turned the crowded arena into hockey paradise.
Anyone who was there knows exactly what I mean. With the temperature down in the mid-teens, it felt more like a hockey night than these events previously have. The flood of different jerseys on the walk from the train station down Olympic Boulevard to the arena, as close to an NHL-spec barn as Australia has to offer, showed that there was plenty of support for Canada and the Americans – and for the Oilers, Rangers, Penguins, Blackhawks and even the Whalers and Nordiques. Nothing cooler than a throwback jersey! Except maybe a #99 Gretzky one on this night.
Say what you will about the exhibition nature of the series. There are people out there who line up to take shots at the line-up and the intensity of games that are played in the off-season for professional hockey, by guys – NHL goaltenders Ben Scrivens and Scott Darling, reigning All Star Game MVP John Scott and Stanley Cup champion Brandon Bolling amongst them – who’ve come halfway around the world to put on a show and to promote concussion awareness, an incredibly important and worthwhile cause.
If you expect them to go full-pace like it’s Game Seven of the Stanley Cup Finals, you’re mad. Even so, the final period, plus a frantic five minutes of three-on-three overtime and the following shootout, won by Canada 4-3, thanks to a Chad Nehring winner in the sixth round, was sensationally paced, and not without a little physicality, too. It was by far the best of these games I’ve seen. Two NHL goaltenders helped, as did the nice smattering of other NHL talent. The roster depth has gone from strength to strength each year.
That the tour happens at all is pretty amazing, and every single one of the players on this trip have taken time out of their short off-season vacation/family time to spread the hockey gospel far beyond it’s regular borders, should be lauded by one and all. Not derided.
Ticket prices? Yeah, they’re expensive, but when you consider how much the insurance payments for some of the NHL guys would be, and the cost of building rinks in all the arenas, quite aside from feeding, housing and transporting athletes around, it’s little wonder. But the value for money is great, if you go in expecting an All Star-type contest, which I always do.
The way the entire night is packed up is unbeatable. For once a year attendees like my dad (who thoroughly enjoyed himself) the whole spectacle is undeniably exciting, right down to the anthems and the WWE-style introductions of the players. Oh, and the Kiss Cam, Bongo Cam and a double chance at karaoke – “The Horses” by Daryl Braithwaite and John Farnham’s “You’re The Voice” by – were great fun, too.
For those of us who live and breathe the game, a fun night was made so much more memorable because Wayne Gretzky was in the house, and plenty of folks turned up more than two hours before puck drop in the main game to see #99 on the ice in a four-on-four charity contest.
It took a few moments for it to sink in. Wayne Gretzky. On the ice. In front of my eyes. In Sydney of all places! It was a pretty trippy moment for me, and, I’m sure, for many others. I never got to see Gretzky play live, but have seen many highlights on YouTube and DVD over the years. I never expected to see him in an Australian rink, almost close enough for me to reach out and touch him. I bet #99 didn’t figure such a thing was possible as recently as a handful of years ago, either.
As Gretzky said recently, the Los Angeles Kings were playing to crowds of less than 6,000 before he arrived there, and now the south-west of the United States features three good teams – Los Angeles, Anaheim and San Jose – who regularly play to capacity crowds, and Scottsdale, Arizona’s own Auston Matthews was selected first overall at the NHL Entry Draft the morning of Sydney’s slice of hockey suggest that things are changing. Scottsdale certainly isn’t a hockey hotbed, yet Matthews, who grew up playing on synthetic rinks, is poised for NHL greatness.
Sold-out crowds in Los Angeles? An American from Arizona as taken first in the Draft? Twenty or thirty years ago all of this would’ve seemed impossible to most hockey fans and pundits. Now, it’s happening before our eyes – and it’s proof positive that hockey’s frontiers are shifting.
We already have one Australian, Nathan Walker, plying his trade in the AHL, the feeder league to the NHL, and who knows how many other kids might’ve been inspired by Gretzky, John Scott, Ben Scrivens, Scott Darling or some other player on the ice on Saturday night. Who knows where that may lead in the future? Somewhere good, hopefully.
Kudos to Mike Baird, Destination NSW, Stop Concussions and TLA Worldwide for combining to bring Gretzky over. The amount of media he’s done over the last few days, most of it in front of iconic Sydney landmarks, will be beamed around the world, and I’m betting Saturday night’s spectacle has converted at least a few more hockey fans.
Welcome to the club!
Analysing the Top Three Picks in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft
The 2016 NHL Entry Draft took place at First Niagara Centre in Buffalo, New York over the weekend, and provided some great and historic storylines as we head full-tilt towards a new season. Here is my analysis of the top three picks in this year’s Draft:
No. 1: Auston Matthews (Scottsdale, Arizona, United States) – Toronto Maple Leafs
Hard to tell who is more excited about the American phenom going first overall: the Toronto Maple Leafs or those who have campaigned tirelessly to grow hockey in non-traditional American markets, of which the Arizona desert certainly is one or proponents of American hockey. I believe Matthews’ selection ahead of a good crop of talent is a triumph for all concerned.
Matthews, who grew up playing on synthetic rinks near Phoenix, is a prodigious talent and one of those can’t-miss picks. He’s a player with an already-immense skill set, with room for improvement. In short, he’s a budding superstar, the likes we haven’t seen since Sidney Crosby was taken by the Pittsburgh Penguins. In a similar vein to Crosby, Matthews is the sort of guy you build a franchise around. There’s been plenty of pain in Toronto recently, but the arrival of the American is going to change that and probably fairly quickly, too.
That Matthews will learn the NHL ropes from head coach Mike Babcock, no slouch behind the bench, will only accelerate his progress, and it won’t be long before the Great White Hope for the Leafs is dominating the league. At the very least in 2016-17, we’re likely going to see a Calder Trophy (award for rookie of the year) campaign from Matthews. But, possibly, a whole lot more than that.
If you saw the big centre play for Team USA either at the World Junior Championships over the Christmas-New Year period or, more recently, at the senior level World Championships where he more than held his own, you have a good idea what he can do. And, remember, he’s only going to get better.
Even in Zurich, where Matthews went for his draft year to learn the game under former NHL head coach Marc Crawford, the American dominated. In thirty-six games he scored twenty four goals and picked up an additional twenty-two assists for forty-six points, at an average of 1.28 points per game. He was head-and-shoulders the best player in the Swiss-A League and becomes the first player from that lead to be taken No. 1 overall in the NHL draft.
Look, let’s not mince words here: the Leafs drafted Matthews to lead their most visible NHL franchise – one that’s been largely starved of real success, mind you – to Stanley Cup championship glory. If he can do that, and play a starring role, he might very well get the keys to the city handed over on a silver platter.
Draft Day in Buffalo could be the start of huge things for Matthews and the Leafs.
No. 2: Patrik Laine (Tampere, Finland) - Winnipeg Jets
The Winnipeg Jets got a good one in Laine in a selection that, like Auston Matthews going to Toronto, didn’t exactly surprise anyone. We’d seen this one coming for months, and Jet fans are likely giddy with excitement to see what the Finnish youngster can do for a franchise yet to taste ultimate success, a Stanley Cup championship.
Laine might be the sort of player to help them on their war. He absolutely dominated at the World Junior Championships (seven goals, MVP honours and, as you might expect, a place on the tournament’s All-Star team) where Finland won the gold medal in rather emphatic fashion. The Fins were the most impressive and fun-to-watch team in that tournament, largely thanks to the lengthy highlight reel Laine amassed.
As if that wasn't enough, Laine impressed at senior-level World Championships, too, netting seven goals as the Fins won a silver medal – and where he really sent a message to the hockey world that he was the real deal. He netted seven goals for the tournament, landed a spot on the tournament’s All-Star team, and earned MVP honours to boot. Scouts have long pointed out that Laine already possesses an NHL-calibre shot, and he showed it on the ice against some of the best NHLers there are.
Of course, the Jets in their previous incarnation have good success drafting Finnish players, with the great Teemu Selanne leading the franchise for many productive years. Just a little pressure here, because Selanne is one of the most revered figures in hockey full stop, and is almost a god up in Winnipeg.
Laine, a natural scorer off the wing with speed, size and a cannon for a shot, equalled goalie Kari Lehtonen as the highest-drafted NHL player in Finland history. Not a bad name to be alongside. He’s tall at six-foot-4 and weighs in at over 200 pounds, so when he hits guys, they’re absolutely going to know about it.
This kid is going to be heaps of fun to watch!
No 3: Pierre-Luc Dubois (Ste-Agathe-des-Monts, Quebec, Canada) - Columbus Blue Jackets
Well, we didn’t have to wait long for the first shock of Draft Day, courtesy of the Columbus Blue Jackets, the Columbus Blue Jackets helped Dubois celebrate his eighteenth birthday by selecting the Canadian with the third overall pick, when most mock drafts leading into Friday evening had the Jackets taking Finland’s Jesse Puljujärvi.
The Quebecois power forward’s scouting report suggests he can play competently at all three offensive positions and is a strong skater, possessing a deceptive quickness. The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League product has just completed his second season in the league with the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles, and after a slow start had a strong post-Christmas run to finish runner-up in the scoring race, with forty-two goals and ninety-nine points.
Although Dubois was universally expected to be a top ten pick, he was not expected to go in the first three, and had been somewhat lost in the talk concerning Matthews, Laine and Puljujärvi – the Big Three of this year’s draft – but the Blue Jackets pounced early, perhaps because they heard his juniors coach compare him to Philadelphia Flyers star Claude Giroux, who also played in Cape Breton. High praise, indeed.
It’s worth noting that the sudden acceleration in his offensive production coincided with a shift from the wing into centre, and that’s where Dubois has told the media and his new franchise that he’d like to play.
No doubt, being taken earlier than expected, the pressure is on Dubois to be good, and to bring glamour and success to a franchise that hasn’t seen much of either since entering the NHL back in 2000. Time will tell whether this was a good pick or not.
No. 1: Auston Matthews (Scottsdale, Arizona, United States) – Toronto Maple Leafs
Hard to tell who is more excited about the American phenom going first overall: the Toronto Maple Leafs or those who have campaigned tirelessly to grow hockey in non-traditional American markets, of which the Arizona desert certainly is one or proponents of American hockey. I believe Matthews’ selection ahead of a good crop of talent is a triumph for all concerned.
Matthews, who grew up playing on synthetic rinks near Phoenix, is a prodigious talent and one of those can’t-miss picks. He’s a player with an already-immense skill set, with room for improvement. In short, he’s a budding superstar, the likes we haven’t seen since Sidney Crosby was taken by the Pittsburgh Penguins. In a similar vein to Crosby, Matthews is the sort of guy you build a franchise around. There’s been plenty of pain in Toronto recently, but the arrival of the American is going to change that and probably fairly quickly, too.
That Matthews will learn the NHL ropes from head coach Mike Babcock, no slouch behind the bench, will only accelerate his progress, and it won’t be long before the Great White Hope for the Leafs is dominating the league. At the very least in 2016-17, we’re likely going to see a Calder Trophy (award for rookie of the year) campaign from Matthews. But, possibly, a whole lot more than that.
If you saw the big centre play for Team USA either at the World Junior Championships over the Christmas-New Year period or, more recently, at the senior level World Championships where he more than held his own, you have a good idea what he can do. And, remember, he’s only going to get better.
Even in Zurich, where Matthews went for his draft year to learn the game under former NHL head coach Marc Crawford, the American dominated. In thirty-six games he scored twenty four goals and picked up an additional twenty-two assists for forty-six points, at an average of 1.28 points per game. He was head-and-shoulders the best player in the Swiss-A League and becomes the first player from that lead to be taken No. 1 overall in the NHL draft.
Look, let’s not mince words here: the Leafs drafted Matthews to lead their most visible NHL franchise – one that’s been largely starved of real success, mind you – to Stanley Cup championship glory. If he can do that, and play a starring role, he might very well get the keys to the city handed over on a silver platter.
Draft Day in Buffalo could be the start of huge things for Matthews and the Leafs.
No. 2: Patrik Laine (Tampere, Finland) - Winnipeg Jets
The Winnipeg Jets got a good one in Laine in a selection that, like Auston Matthews going to Toronto, didn’t exactly surprise anyone. We’d seen this one coming for months, and Jet fans are likely giddy with excitement to see what the Finnish youngster can do for a franchise yet to taste ultimate success, a Stanley Cup championship.
Laine might be the sort of player to help them on their war. He absolutely dominated at the World Junior Championships (seven goals, MVP honours and, as you might expect, a place on the tournament’s All-Star team) where Finland won the gold medal in rather emphatic fashion. The Fins were the most impressive and fun-to-watch team in that tournament, largely thanks to the lengthy highlight reel Laine amassed.
As if that wasn't enough, Laine impressed at senior-level World Championships, too, netting seven goals as the Fins won a silver medal – and where he really sent a message to the hockey world that he was the real deal. He netted seven goals for the tournament, landed a spot on the tournament’s All-Star team, and earned MVP honours to boot. Scouts have long pointed out that Laine already possesses an NHL-calibre shot, and he showed it on the ice against some of the best NHLers there are.
Of course, the Jets in their previous incarnation have good success drafting Finnish players, with the great Teemu Selanne leading the franchise for many productive years. Just a little pressure here, because Selanne is one of the most revered figures in hockey full stop, and is almost a god up in Winnipeg.
Laine, a natural scorer off the wing with speed, size and a cannon for a shot, equalled goalie Kari Lehtonen as the highest-drafted NHL player in Finland history. Not a bad name to be alongside. He’s tall at six-foot-4 and weighs in at over 200 pounds, so when he hits guys, they’re absolutely going to know about it.
This kid is going to be heaps of fun to watch!
No 3: Pierre-Luc Dubois (Ste-Agathe-des-Monts, Quebec, Canada) - Columbus Blue Jackets
Well, we didn’t have to wait long for the first shock of Draft Day, courtesy of the Columbus Blue Jackets, the Columbus Blue Jackets helped Dubois celebrate his eighteenth birthday by selecting the Canadian with the third overall pick, when most mock drafts leading into Friday evening had the Jackets taking Finland’s Jesse Puljujärvi.
The Quebecois power forward’s scouting report suggests he can play competently at all three offensive positions and is a strong skater, possessing a deceptive quickness. The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League product has just completed his second season in the league with the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles, and after a slow start had a strong post-Christmas run to finish runner-up in the scoring race, with forty-two goals and ninety-nine points.
Although Dubois was universally expected to be a top ten pick, he was not expected to go in the first three, and had been somewhat lost in the talk concerning Matthews, Laine and Puljujärvi – the Big Three of this year’s draft – but the Blue Jackets pounced early, perhaps because they heard his juniors coach compare him to Philadelphia Flyers star Claude Giroux, who also played in Cape Breton. High praise, indeed.
It’s worth noting that the sudden acceleration in his offensive production coincided with a shift from the wing into centre, and that’s where Dubois has told the media and his new franchise that he’d like to play.
No doubt, being taken earlier than expected, the pressure is on Dubois to be good, and to bring glamour and success to a franchise that hasn’t seen much of either since entering the NHL back in 2000. Time will tell whether this was a good pick or not.
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