結果：アイスホッケー世界選手権ディビジョンIII予備予選

さてさて、もう２週間前にボスニアで行われた、国際ホッケー界最底辺の戦いアイスホッケー世界選手権ディビジョンIII予備予選（展望はここ）ですが、結果から先に言うとなんと１０年近く国際ホッケーから遠ざかっていて国内にアイスリンクもないギリシャ代表（出身地が外国の選手が多いですが、国内ではインラインを使って育成もしている）が、来月ルクセンブルグで行われるディビジョンIII への切符を勝ち取りました！逆境の中素晴らしい結果を出したギリシャ代表、おめでとう！

試合結果は以下の通りでした。

2008.2.15 ギリシャ 18 － 1 ボスニア・ヘルツェゴビナ

2008.2.16 ギリシャ 8 － 5 アルメニア

2008.2.17 ボスニア・ヘルツェゴビナ 1 － 10 アルメニア

ギリシャはアルメニアに堂々と勝ち、文句無しのディビジョンIII 出場です。ボスニアに今後が少し心配です。せっかく立派なアリーナもあるんだから、ホッケーが競技として衰退してほしくないです。東南アジア諸国とかとなら接戦できるくらいの実力なのかな？

さてさて、ここまでは順調なのですが、国際ホッケー界の問題児（前出の展望を参考）アルメニアがまたやらかしてくれました。IIHF のルールである、試合前の選手参加資格証明の為のパスポート提示をなんと４度も断り、結局一度も選手のパスポートを提示せずに選手の国籍疑惑を抱えたまま大会を終えた為に、２試合とも５－０負けの放棄試合扱いとなりました。3/3-9 にアルメニアが参加するU18 世界選手権ディビジョンIII が開催されるのですが、果たして大丈夫なのか？アメリカとの二重国籍で、アメリカのクラブチームに在籍していながら、アルメニア代表としてプレーしてる選手が複数いるのが問題らしいのですが、国際スポーツのルールを何回も完全に無視したアルメニアへの処分は以前より厳しくなるでしょう。世界のホッケー発展から見ると実に残念な展開です…

100万ドルのシュート！

ホッケーの試合のインターミッション中（ピリオド間）によくある、遠くからゴールを決めたら景品を貰えるコンテストの映像です。普通はゴールを板で隠して、その板の小さな穴に入れれば勝てる（日本でもやってるよね）んだけど、それだとさすがに誰も勝てない出来レースｗ なのか、最近コンテストの方式が変わって、遠いブルーラインから限られた時間内にターゲット数のゴールを決めれば勝てるようなコンテストもやってるそうで、これはその一つです。景品はなんと最近流行りのハイブリッド車と100万ドル！（今カナダ＄は米＄より高価なんで、これは軽く１億円超。）１００万ドルの為の最終コンテストはというと、相手ブルーラインから２４秒間内に２０シュートのうち１５本決めれば勝ち、結果は映像をどうぞ：

ちなみにとあるアメリカ南部のNHL の試合で似たようなコンテストをやった時には、７本のシュートのうち４本決めれば勝ちだったそうで、さすがにカナダだけあって難易度上げてましたねｗｗ

The Hives 対カナックスのスウェーデン人選手達

NHL とタイアップをしているスウェーデンのロックバンドThe Hives (今年のアトランタでのオールスターでも演奏)が、なんとツアー中のバンクーバーでのステージの前にカナックスのホームリンクのGM Place でバンクーバーのスウェーデン人選手３人（双子のSedin 兄弟とMarkus Naslund) 相手にShinny (防具無しゴーリー無しで行う一番カジュアルなアイスホッケー) をしたそうです。そして、その結果はなんと6-5 で負けましたが接戦でした！５人対３人だったとはいえ、プロ相手に立派じゃないですかっ！！（＾＾　やっぱりスウェーデンはホッケー大国なんだな（都市部ではサッカーの方が人気あると聞きますが）。

How NOT To Use PowerPoint

How NOT to use PowerPoint by comedian Don McMillan… it’s funny because it’s true.

GMのセグウェイと61kg のハンバーガー

とても嬉しそうな笑顔でスプリング・キャンプ地をセグウェイで乗り回している、ワシントン・ナショナルズのGMのJim Bowden。こんなとこに新球場から来るであろう収入を使ってしまっていいのだろうか、Nats？（しかもナショナルズ仕様にカスタマイズされてるｗ）

元ネタの記事（ワシントン・タイムズ）

そしてこちらはフィラデルフィア・フィリーズのGMが真剣に読んでいたデトロイト・フリープレス紙の記事の134ポンド（約61kg）のギネス新記録ハンバーガー。完全にアフォです。既に6ポンド(2.7kg) と12ポンドのハンバーガーがメニューに載ってるこのお店、ついでに記録達成バーガーも$350 （ドリンクとフライ付で4万円弱ｗ）でメニューに載せるんだとさ。んー、あめりかーーんｗｗｗ

Sumo in LA

Ozumo (the professional sumo circuit) is making an appearance in LA this June after putting on a performance in Hawaii last year, which was the first time in 14 years for the former sumo wrestler producing island.

Pretty slick site considering how analogue the sumo world is (many sumo-beya training stables now have their own sites and top ranked sekitori wrestlers have their own blogs, so the ancient world is slowly becoming digitized). Introductory video is nicely produced and contains lots of great scenes often not seen by the public, like all the training sessions. But it seems to overuse the Japanese sumo words so people need some prior knowledge of the sport, otherwise they’ll get lost quickly in all the lingo. Then again judo pretty much exclusively uses Japanese terms and it’s an Olympic sport, so that seems to be what sumo’s aiming at.

One FYI: about 40 wrestlers in the upper ranks of makuuchi make it to these overseas 2-day tournaments, but they always fly in two separate planes. This is to avert a situation where the world’s top sumo wrestlers are all lost in one plane crash.

PS: There should be a Mongolian tournament in the works as well, as Mongolians currently dominate the sumo world and Ozumo is watched regularly by Mongolians on TV. Sort of like how Japanese watch their major leaguers on TV broadcasts.

Jamie McLennan in Beijing and AL semifinal mini preview

Some interesting observations from Jamie about the Asia League. I’ve seen games in Korea but not in China, so first hand reports like this are neat (from his blog entry at The Hockey News):

Secondly, in 17 years as a pro hockey player I’d like to claim I’ve had many experiences and would say I’ve seen it all when it came to what this game has to offer. But I broke out laughing in amazement six minutes into the game when I spotted the goal judge behind the net, smoking, with an ashtray on the boards and carrying on like he’s watching the game from his living room couch.

It was awesome. I’m not condoning the smoking issue, but it was a very unique sight to see someone involved in a sport actively lighting a dart while the play is on. There were plumes of smoke everywhere around him, like he’d actually see a goal if it went in. It was so crazy; I thought it was worth mentioning. It was one of those things that if you didn’t see for yourself, you wouldn’t believe.

Haha, pretty funny stuff. The level of professionalism really varies throughout the countries in this league. Looks like Jamie was needed in the second game though, as the undermanned Cranes managed to somehow lose to the lowly China Sharks by the score of 6-5 (who only won 3 out of 30 games all season to finish dead last).

The Cranes just swept Anyang Halla in 3 games (best of 5 series) to advance to the semifiinals of the AL playoffs. But all 3 games were decided by one goal, so it looks like the series could have gone either way (I didn’t get to see any games, but shots on goal were fairly even). Now I’ll get to see McLennan, Nash, and Co. in action against the Seibu Prince Rabbits when they open the semifinals here in Tokyo on 1 March.

The other semifinal features Oji, who handily swept the underpowered Bucks, against High1, the first non-Japanese team to finigh the regular season with such a good record (2nd). Both Seibu and High1 had byes in the first round, they should be well prepared for the semis. The Cranes fortunes rest on McLennan’s shoulders, as the team’s been inconsistent all season and Seibu is a solid squad with no obvious weaknesses. Oji – High1 should be a very even and interesting series. I’d like to see High1 win and become the first non-Japanese team to make it to the AL final, but this series is a real tough call.

NBA trades

I don’t follow basketball or NBA, but this was just too good to pass up. The “soft cap” system NBA has just makes many of their trades stranger than fiction. Here’s something from Slate:

After all the foolishness that went into making this trade happen, it’s easy to forget that Jason Kidd is going to Dallas to try to win a championship. The big winner here, though, is Keith Van Horn. Once he goes through the motions of practicing with the Nets, he’ll likely by waived and sent back home. For his trouble, he will be paid $4.3 million. The crowning irony here is that a retired player is getting a fat load of free money because of the NBA’s strict rules to control how much gets spent on salaries. Sure, that makes absolutely no sense—but this is the NBA, where backward logic rules. Now, I wonder who the Lakers could get for Karl Malone …

If NPB or MLB is ever going to implement a salary cap system, make sure to model it after the NFL or NHL systems and not the NBA absurdity (though, the NFL one produces massive multiyear deals that never materialize, could the NHL possibly have the most sensible salary cap amongst the major sports?)

Do you dress like a douchebag?

Apparently, I’m a boring dresser (AL playoffs and baseball updates are coming when I have more time and energy…)

2007-08 Asia League Ice Hockey Regular Season Review and Playoff Preview

The 2007-08 season of AL was competed with 7 teams (the league makeup changes every year, hopefully we’ll get some new teams entering the league in the near future). The top 6 teams make the playoffs (haha), the top 2 teams get a bye in the first round where 3^rd plays 6^th and 4^th plays 5^th.

I was going to write a more thorough season review and playoff preview, but work and the recycle paper scandal (and the McLennan story that was too good to pass up) took up too much of my time, and the playoffs begin today, so here’s a quick summary. (EDIT: Or so I thought, this turned out to be, by far, the longest article I’ve written so far for my young blog. And it seriously needs editing and is full of grammatical and other errors… but I’ve got a real job and this is just a hobby so please bear with my late night stream of consciousness, thanks.)

Final Standings

RK	Team	G	W	OTW	T	OTL	L	GF – GA	Points
1	Seibu Prince Rabbits	30	20	0	1	0	9	138 – 73	61
2	High1 Ice Hockey Team	30	17	2	1	2	8	118 – 89	58
3	Oji Ice Hockey Team	30	17	1	2	2	8	112 – 74	57
4	Nippon Paper Cranes	30	15	1	2	1	11	97 – 85	50
5	Anyang Halla Ice Hockey Club	30	13	1	2	1	13	93 – 92	44
6	HC Nikko IceBucks	30	8	2	2	0	18	60 – 109	30
7	China Sharks	30	3	0	0	1	26	63 – 159	10

http://www.alhockey.com/popup/9/standings.html

Scoring Leaders

RK	Player Name	No	Team	GP	G	A	P
1	KIM, Alex	79	HG1	30	23	28	51
2	PRPIC, Joel	33	SPR	27	17	30	47
3	SMITH, Tim	21	HG1	30	23	23	46
4	MARTINEC, Patrik	43	AHL	29	7	29	36
5	ENDICOTT, Shane	12	OJI	30	13	22	35
5	MITANI, Darcy Takeshi	20	NPC	28	13	22	35
5	SMITH, Bud	58	HG1	30	9	26	35
5	SUZUKI, Takahito	18	SPR	30	13	22	35
5	YULE, Chris	75	SPR	30	10	25	35
10	FUJITA, Kiyoshi	40	SPR	28	16	18	34
10	SAITO, Takeshi	19	OJI	30	11	23	34

http://www.alhockey.com/popup/9/point_rank.html

Goalie Stats (sorted by Save %, goalies who faced over 100 SOG in bold)

RK	Player Name	Team	No	GP	SOG	GA	Saves	Sv%	GAA
1	KATAYAMA, Kazuhito	SPR	20	4	79	5	74	93.67	1.88
2	McLENNAN, Jamie	NPC	29	14	415	33	382	92.05	2.5
3	KIKUCHI, Naoya	SPR	39	29	801	64	737	92.01	2.37
4	HARUNA, Masahito	OJI	61	20	513	43	470	91.62	2.22
5	KIM, Sun-Ki	AHL	32	1	23	2	21	91.3	2
6	EUM, Hyun-Seung	HG1	31	29	854	78	776	90.87	2.81
7	ISHIKAWA, Hisashi	NPC	61	18	538	50	488	90.71	2.97
8	KANAMARU, Hisashi	HG1	39	4	83	8	75	90.36	3.47
9	HASHIMOTO, Michio	NIB	1	30	1031	100	931	90.3	3.39
10	OGINO, Junji	OJI	30	10	228	23	205	89.91	2.5
11	GUARD, Kelly	CSH	1	2	59	6	53	89.83	3
12	SON, Ho-Seong	AHL	33	27	698	77	621	88.97	2.98
13	PARK, Jun-Soo	AHL	30	5	89	12	77	86.52	3.6
14	KIYOKAWA, Kazuhiko	OJI	45	2	41	6	35	85.37	4.2
15	KAWAGUCHI, Rei	NIB	30	2	22	4	18	81.82	6.95
16	YU Yang	CSH	30	18	428	78	350	81.78	6
17	XIE Ming	CSH	33	8	170	33	137	80.59	7.35
18	MATSUMOTO, Shiro	SPR	31	1	7	2	5	71.43	6
19	TADA, Kyohei	OJI	55	1	0	0	0	0	0

http://www.alhockey.com/popup/9/gksp.html

1. Seibu Prince Rabbits (20-1-9, 61 pts) – First round bye

Another solid season by the bunnies. Like in previous years, the team started training hard early in the summer with a regimented program under the guidance of their conditioning trainer. This worked as the team started off the season 7-1-1 (Sept-Oct) and solidly in first place. But this team can get sloppy and streaky during the regular season, and only the luck of their schedule allowed Seibu to claim top of the table. The Rabbits finished the season with 3 straight games against the lowly Bucks, easy 9 points (8-0, 4-1, and 8-2 wins) to overtake High1 for 1^st place. But the bunnies went only 4-6 leading up to the Bucks games at the end of the season.

Seibu did beat Oji and the Cranes to capture the All Japan Championship on 10 Feb, and the bunnies are deadly clinical on the power play leading the league with incredible 34% conversion rate. Seibu is definitely the favourite in the upcoming playoffs, especially with the unstable Cranes this year, and the unknown factor of High1 in the post season. Seibu features the highest scoring Asian trained player in the league in the veteran Takahito Suzuki, as well as Prpic, Fujita, and Yule who all cracked the top 10 in scoring. Then again, they did run up the score 15-3 against the Sharks one game, so the AL scoring leader board and goal differentials figures are still not very reliable. And all these players are on the wrong side of 30, so they have the skills and experience, but a youthful team may outskate and out-grit them.

Okubo (High1) and Fujita (Seibu)

 

2. High1 (19-1-10, 58 pts) – First round bye

21-1-12 for 62 points last season as Kangwon Land (34 game schedule in 2006-07). On a per game basis High1 earned 1.93 pts, with a GF of 3.93 and GA of 2.97. Whereas Kangwon last season was 1.82 pts, 4.5 GF, and 3.24 GA. Upon first glance it seems like the team did better last season, but there were two Chinese minnows last year, where as they combined to form the somewhat more competitive China Sharks this year. So, it’s difficult to compare with just those raw numbers.

But one aspect of the team that definitely improved was the power play unit. It went from league average 24% (5^th out of 8 teams) to an impressive 31%, good enough for 2^nd in the league. Not taking stupid penalties, and containing the High1 power play will be the key for the team that meets them in the semifinal (Oji or Nikko). Korean teams did have an easier schedule than the Japanese teams though, as they got to beat up on the Sharks 3 extra times when compared to their Japanese counterparts. So this may really have been a 3^rd place team had the schedule not been unbalanced with the extra regional games.

The incredible aspect of the High1 season was that the team lost its starting goalie Ho-Seong Son (34GP, 89 Sv%, 3.14GAA), top scorer Kyu-Hyun Kim (26+38=64pts), and young national team player Kwon-Jae Lee (1+5=6pts) all to its archrival Anyang Halla. So, High1 was reasonably expected to struggle this season. But in their place Hyun-Seung Eum (29GP, 91 Sv%, 2.81GAA) and Korean-American import Alex Kim (23+28=51pts, good enough for the league scoring title) more than filled in. Japanese defenseman Tomohito Okubo continues to be crucial to the team’s success with 28 assists (2 shy of league leader Prpic’s 30) and 33 points to lead all defensemen, and he’s the only foreign based player, besides NHL experienced goalie Yutaka Fukufuji, to be invited to the national team selection camp. Together with D Byoung-Wook Hwang (8+12=20pts) and the Smith brother (Tim 23+23=46pts, Bud 9+26=35pts) the High1 fivesome is truly a force to be reckoned with.